BALTIMORE – Coppin State's
Ashley Roman led all players with 22 digs and three aces to lead the Eagles to a 3-0 victory (25-21, 25-20, 25-19) over Delaware State on Monday night at PEC Arena. With the victory, the Eagles are now 5-4 overall, which is their best start in program history through nine matches, and 4-1 in MEAC play.
A native of Isabela, P.R., Roman carried the Eagles defensively accounting for over 40 percent of Coppin's total digs.
Paola Caten also reached double figures in digs with 13 and was second on the team with six kills.
Salma Gonzalez added eight digs as well.
Miajavon Coleman led Coppin's attack with nine kills along with her seven digs as
Chudear Tut recorded four blocks on the night.
Both teams recorded 7.0 total blocks in just three sets with Coleman and
Jordan Celestine chipping in with three blocks apiece. The Eagles held Delaware State to a miniscule .025 hitting percentage.
Delaware State came out strong in the first set leading Coppin, 17-14, yet the Eagles came back with a 5-0 run, featuring kills by
Kareemah Hopkins and Coleman, which put the Eagles on top, 19-17. Coppin pulled away and secured the first set victory with a score of 25-21.
In the second set, the Eagles stellar defense caused the 11 errors from the Lady Hornets. Aside from an opening kill from Delaware State, Coppin led the Hornets for the entire set. Paola Caton tallied three of the Eagles eight kills in the set. Midway through, CSU embarked on a 5-0 run with kills from Tut, Hopkins and Caten which gave Coppin a 19-11 lead. Caten closed the set with a kill and a score of 25-20.
Coppin used early 4-0 and 5-0 runs to pull away from Delaware State at the start of the third set to take a 10-3 lead and force a DSU timeout. The Hornets got as close as 18-16 which forced an Eagles timeout, but CSU closed it out with a 7-3 run.
Coppin returns to action on March 11-12 against Morgan State with both matches set for 6 pm starts. Thursday's match will be held at Hill Field House followed by the PEC Arena on Friday.
