BALTIMORE, Md. – CSU volleyball will look the capture its first conference title in the 29-year history of the program as it enters the MEAC tournament this weekend. Its first test will be a Quarterfinals bout with the preseason MEAC favorite, Bethune-Cookman Wildcats, with first serve set for 8 p.m. Friday night. Coppin drew the MEAC North's #3 seed while Bethune-Cookman earned the South's #2 seed. The two teams met in Baltimore for a crossover clash in mid-October, with the Wildcats coming away with a 3-0 sweep.
What You Need to Know
- Time and Date: 8:00 p.m. (Quarterfinals) / 8:00 p.m. (Semifinals *if necessary) / 8:00 p.m. (MEAC Championship Game *if necessary)
- Live Stats: https://hubison.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
- Video: N/A
- Audio: N/A
- Records: Coppin State 12-19 (6-4 MEAC) / Bethune-Cookman 15-15 (7-3 MEAC)
- Location: Burr Gymnasium – Washington, DC
- Series History: Bethune-Cookman Leads 17-5
Coppin Contributors
- Coppin State volleyball earned 12 wins in 2018, the fourth such time that the program has tallied double-digit victories in school history. The Eagles join the 2012, 2013, and 2014 squads in achieving that mark.
- CSU reached double-digit wins despite being the youngest team in the NCAA this season, with 11 freshman, one sophomore, two juniors and one senior.
- Miajavon Coleman has been a difference maker since she stepped on campus, garnering numerous accolades in her first collegiate season, winning MEAC Rookie of the Year, making the All-MEAC Second Team, and was the top vote-getter while landing on the MEAC All-Rookie Team.
- Coleman is on a first season record-setting binge as she is currently inside the top-three for kills per set (3.77), total points (422.5), and attack attempts (1005), while placing just outside the top-three in kills with 396.
- Brianna Lang is also having a season that will go down in Coppin lore, as she joins Coleman on the MEAC All-Rookie Team, she's third in most assists for a single season with (993), had a single-game Coppin State record 64 assists against North Carolina Central and she has already broken the record for most assists as a freshman.
- Lang has accomplished a feat that no other Eagle setter has done in program history, piling up 900 assists and 200 digs in a single season, with a chance to go over 1,000 in the tournament.
- Lang finished the regular season with 8 double-doubles (fifth-best in MEAC), and 16 matches where she had over 30 assists (third-best).
- Junior middle hitter Christa Johnson is inside the top-three for individual blocks in a season, finishing the regular season with 89 blocks. She will get a chance to pad her total in the MEAC Tournament while also writing a new page in the Coppin career record books, as she's presently ninth all-time for Lady Eagle volleyball players in career blocks with 139.
- Asia Stennis is currently seventh all-time amongst Eagles players with 664 kills in her career and had the ninth highest kills per set total in the MEAC in 2018 (2.74).
- Freshman Libero Chelsie Kolibar rounds out the CSU historical group, as she has racked up the ninth highest dig total in single-season history as she currently sits at 317.
Scouting the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats
- Bethune-Cookman was projected to win the MEAC South in the preseason poll but will settle for a dangerous #2 seed. The Wildcats were the only MEAC South opponent to defeat the #1 seeded Florida A&M Rattlers in the regular season, while winning the head-to-head tiebreaker with North Carolina A&T as they finished with identical 7-3 records in conference play.
- B-CU as a team were consistently found at the top of the MEAC leader boards, finishing inside the top-5 in every major category (excluding service aces), while sitting atop the blocks (2.42 per set) and digs (16.40 per set) categories.
- Cookman thrived on capitalizing on opponents' mistakes, concluding the regular season allowing a dismal .166 hitting percentage to its competitors, the 41st best mark in the NCAA.
- The Wildcats are led by All-MEAC First Teamer, Jordan Jefferson, who paced the entire MEAC with an eye-popping 19 double-doubles, had the second-most matches with 20 or more kills (4), and tied for the conference lead in matches of 20 digs or more (6).
- Jefferson wound up placing fourth and fifth in the conference in digs per set (4.06) and kills per set (3.42), while winding up just shy of the top-five in points per set (3.75).
- Completing the two-headed monster for B-CU was senior middle blocker Meraiah Hill. Hill found herself on the All-MEAC Second Team at seasons end and led all MEAC players in blocks per set (1.30), 0.29 points ahead of the second-place finisher, and the 36th-best rate in the nation. Hill finished inside the country's top-50 in total blocks as well (122).
- Middle blocker Faith Landreneaux kept the list of Wildcat leaders going, as she had the fourth-most efficient hitting percentage in the conference (.267) to go along with the seventh-most blocks per set (0.87).
- J'Nai Higgins was the primary setter for Bethune-Cookman at 7.24 assists per set, while Shayla Eugene joined her teammate Jefferson inside the top-six defensive specialists in the MEAC, totaling 3.57 digs per set.
Potential Competitors (Semifinals or Finals)
- If Coppin State were to defeat Bethune-Cookman in the Quarterfinals, then the Eagles would face the winner of the North's #1 seed (Howard Bison) and the South's #4 seed (North Carolina Central) on Saturday night at 8 p.m.
- If CSU were to win its battle with Howard or North Carolina Central in the Semifinals, it would set up a date in the MEAC Championship game versus Maryland Eastern Shore, North Carolina A&T, Florida A&M, or Morgan State at 8 p.m. Sunday night. The winner would earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
