PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Miajavon Coleman led the way with 14 kills and
Jordan Celestine added eight kills without committing an error, but the Coppin State volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (25-22, 26-24, 25-19) decision at Temple University on Friday night. The Eagles record now stands at 1-1 overall while the Owls remain undefeated at 3-0.
Coleman hit an impressive .286 for the match, committing just four errors on 35 swings and finished a dig shy of a double-double.
Paola Caten recorded nine kills with just one error to hit .421 while the middle hitting duo of Celestine and freshman
Chudear Tut had eight kills apiece. Both Celestine and Tut had a pair of blocks on the night while Celestine hit .400.
Ashley Roman led Coppin defensively, recording 19 digs while
Salma Gonzalez came up with 11. Caten also contributed seven digs. Quarterbacking the offense once again was
Kareemah Hopkins, who recorded a match-high 34 assists along with seven digs, while the Eagles attack hit .217 for the match.
Coppin got out to an early 6-1 lead in the first set to force a Temple timeout and the Eagles maintained a five-point lead until the midway point of the frame. After a kill by Caten gave CSU a 15-10 lead, the Owls scored four-straight, prompting a Coppin timeout. The Eagles answered with a pair of points, but Temple went on a 5-0 run to take its first lead and held a 24-21 advantage. Coleman forced a second set-point with a kill which the Owls answered with a kill to take the opener.
Temple maintained their first set momentum early in the second, getting out to a 6-2 lead. The Eagles battled back to a one-point deficit three times before the Owls scored four-straight to force the second CSU timeout at 15-10. Trailing, 20-16, Celestine started a 4-0 Coppin run with a kill, and after a kill by Tut, combined with
Chudear Tut for a block to make it a 20-19 score.
DeMia Goddard tied it up at 20-20 with an ace which forced a Temple timeout.
The Owls notched a pair of points after the stoppage, but CSU scored three unanswered points with kills by Tut and Gonzalez, followed by an ace by Gonzales, giving the Eagles a 23-22 advantage. Temple held its first set point at 24-23, but after an error, sealed the set with a pair of kills.
In the deciding set, Temple pieced together a pair of 4-0 runs and started to pull away at 14-7. The Owls led by as many as 18-9, but Celestine helped keep Coppin in it with a kill before assisting Hopkins on a block. Celestine added two more kills and Temple was forced to call a timeout despite leading 20-15. The Eagles were able to go on a late 4-2 run which was punctuated with an ace by Roman at 23-19. However, Temple finished the match off with a kill and a CSU error.
Miray Bolukbasi and Gem Grimshaw combined for 35 of Temple's 49 kills to lead the way for the Owls.
Coppin returns to action on February 11-12 when it hosts Delaware State for a pair of MEAC matches. Both matches from PEC Arena are set for 6 pm.
