Box Score Washington D.C. – Coppin State came within a set of the Semifinals but were unable to hold off the experienced Wildcats in a disappointing 3-2 season-ending defeat. Coppin will look to build off of a campaign that saw many records broken, new stars emerge, and shed some light on an extremely bright future that Eagles fans should be excited for.
The Basics
- Final Score: Coppin State 2, Bethune-Cookman 3
- Records: Coppin State 12-20 (6-4 MEAC) / Bethune-Cookman 16-15 (7-3 MEAC)
- Location: Washington DC – Burr Gymnasium
- Series History: Bethune-Cookman Leads 18-5
How It Happened
1st Set
- Bethune gained the early edge, with a 7-3 run to start the match.
- A 3-1 CSU rally, capped by an Asia Stennis ace had the Eagles back in it, 8-6.
- B-CU came right back and rattled off a 5-1 run to bring the score up to a 6-point margin, 13-7.
- Coppin fought back itself, going six for the next eight points to inch closer, 15-13.
- CSU would even the score at 21 all, but a 4-1 B-CU run ended any comeback hopes, as Bethune-Cookman took a 25-22, first set win.
2nd Set
- The Eagles and Wildcats were at a stalemate 24 points in (12-12).
- Coppin State found a groove, outscoring Bethune 7-2 to take command at 19-14.
- An improbable rally by Coppin with the ball mere inches from the court, sparked the Eagles and knotted the game going into the break, 25-20.
3rd Set
- Cookman made all the plays in the beginning, using an overturned challenge to race to a 5-1 upper-hand.
- Separation was minimal as six points apiece kept the Wildcats lead at four, 11-7.
- Seven Coppin points opposed to two for Cookman, brought the Eagles all the way back to take a 14-13 lead.
- CSU and Bethune would get tied up once again at the 20-point mark, setting up a tight finish.
- Coppin finished the job reeling off a 5-3 push, to put the team on the brink of a Semifinal date with Howard, 25-23.
4th Set
- The Wildcats came out swinging, taking a 5-1 advantage before Walsh rallied his troops with a timeout.
- Coppin scratched and clawed to within 2 after a strike by Miajavon Coleman, 10-8 BCU.
- Bethune-Cookman responded in a big way, knocking down five straight points, forcing Tim Walsh to call time after a Jordan Jefferson service ace, 15-8.
- The timeout was just what the doctor ordered, sending the Lady Eagles on a 11-4 rally, split the score at 19-19.
- Bethune-Cookman made certain to send the match to a deciding set, jumping up 23-19, before holding off Coppin State 25-22.
5th Set
- Bethune got a third of the way to 15, before Walsh called his girls together for a pep talk, 5-2 BCU.
- Coppin willed itself to an 11-9 dogfight, gaining some momentum and forcing B-CU to call timeout.
- That would be the last points the Lady Eagles would score, as the Wildcats shut the door on the 2018 season, 15-9.
Inside the Numbers
- 61% of CSU's kills came off the swing of Coleman (19) and Stennis (16), while Christa Johnson and Jordan Celestine each fell just shy of tallying double-digits with 9 each.
- Rebekka Hauri was stellar in the service game, knocking down three aces on the night.
- Brianna Lang ended the season on a high note, notching 40 assists and 11 digs to put together a double-double.
- Lauryn Harrell returned to her early season blocking form, garnering five block assists, while Celestine contributed four assists as well.
- With 12 victories and a 6-4 MEAC record in 2018, Coppin State had its most conference and overall wins in a season since the 2014 campaign. The team joined the 2012, 2013, and 2014 teams with double-digit wins in the program's 29-year existence.
- CSU reached double-digit wins despite being the youngest team in the NCAA this season, with 11 freshmen, one sophomore, two juniors and one senior.
- Miajavon Coleman was a difference all year long, ending 2018 with 415 kills the third-highest single season total in Lady Eagles history.
- To go along with her many kills, Coleman had the most attack attempts in program history, placed third in points (442.5), fifth in kills per set (3.55), and sixth in points per set (3.78).
- Brianna Lang had the best all-around setting performance the school has ever witnessed, finishing third in most assists for a single season with (1033), had a single-game Coppin State record 64 assists against North Carolina Central and easily broke the record for most assists as a freshman.
- Lang accomplished a feat that no other Eagle setter had done in program history, piling up 1000 assists and 200 digs in a single season.
- Christa Johnson concluded her campaign in third for individual blocks in a season (91) and has one more year to climb the ranks after moving into eighth in career blocks with 141, passing Assistant Coach Christiana Epps in the process.
- Asia Stennis will head into her senior season fifth in points (775.5) and sixth among all Eagles players with 680 kills.
- Freshman Libero Chelsie Kolibar was the final Coppin State volleyball player to rewrite a portion of the record books in 2018, hitting the ninth-most digs in a single campaign with 323.
