BALTIMORE – Miajavon Coleman notched a double-double with a season-high 21 kills and 14 digs to lead the Coppin State volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-15, 25-18, 14-25, 26-24) victory over Morgan State on Monday night at PEC Arena. With the win, the Eagles (9-4, 8-1 MEAC) clinched their first-ever MEAC regular season title, the top seed in the Northern Division at the MEAC Tournament and matched a program-record with its eighth-straight victory.
A junior from San Antonio, Texas, Coleman hit .321 for the match with just four errors on 53 swings. Coleman's 21 kills are the most by any player in the MEAC this season and puts her just nine kills away from reaching 1,000 career kills.
Chudear Tut and
Paola Caten also had double digit kills with Tut recording 11 kills and a .296 hitting percentage while Caten added 10 kills on .233 hitting to go with 12 digs for a double-double.
Jordan Celestine and
Salma Gonzalez also pitched n on the attack with eight and seven kills, respectively. Gonzalez was one of four Eagles with at least ten digs, finishing with 11 on the night.
Kareemah Hopkins assisted on a match-high 45 kills and added three kills herself as Coppin outhit Morgan, .288-.273, to go with five digs and a pair of blocks.
On the defensive end,
Ashley Roman was credited with a match-high 21 digs which was her league-high ninth match with at least 20 digs.
With the first set tied at 7-7, Gonzalez and Coleman combined for three kills during a 6-0 run to give Coppin a 13-7 lead and force a Morgan State timeout. The Bears pulled to within four points, but the Eagles pulled away with a 7-1 run which led to another timeout and Coleman finished it off with a pair of kills.
Coleman and Tut helped the Eagles put some distance between them and their crosstown rival to make it a 14-10 score, but Morgan fought back to within 16-15 to force a CSU timeout. Celestine recorded a kill out of the break, which was answered by the Bears, but a pair of CSU blocks and another MSU error gave Coppin a 20-16 lead. Morgan recorded back-to-back points after the stoppage, but Coppin scored five-straight to take the set, featuring a pair of kills by Caten.
Morgan controlled the third from nearly start to finish and closed the frame on an 8-1 run to force a fourth set.
Coppin never trailed in the final set as the Eagles looked like they would prevail easily with a 6-0 run to go on top, 18-12. The came right back with six-straight of their own to force a CSU timeout with the set tied at 18-18. Coleman came right out of the break with a kill and the Eagles extended their lead to 22-19 on a kill by Caten. Morgan once again came back, tying the score at 23 and 24, but Coleman answered with a kill and a Bears attack error sealed the win for Coppin.
The Eagles conclude the regular season when they host Morgan State on Sunday, March 28 at 6 pm.
