STATESBORO, Ga. – Miajavon Coleman led all players with 14 kills and 12 digs for a double-double, leading Coppin State's volleyball team to a season-opening, 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-20) victory over former MEAC rival Bethune-Cookman on Friday afternoon at the Bash in the Boro Tournament, hosted by Georgia Southern University.
With the win, head coach
Tim Walsh now stands alone with a school-record 41 career victories, surpassing
Ashley Preston who now serves as the head coach at University of New Orleans.
A senior from San Antonio, Texas, Coleman hit .250 for the match with just six errors on 32 swings. Coleman, who tallied an impressive eight kills in the first set, also added a pair of blocks for 15 total points.
Sydney Hicks added seven kills while
Hope Casel and
Jordan Celestine recorded five kills apiece to lead the Eagles attack. Celestine also had a match-high four blocks, moving her into fifth place on the CSU all-time list with 170 in her career. Celestine's final block which came late in the third set, broke a tie for fifth place with Salena Weekly ('11).
Andrea Tsvetanova quarterbacked the CSU offense to a .204 hitting percentage with 22 assists along with three aces as she split time at setter with
Kareemah Hopkins who added nine assists. Making her Coppin debut, Tsvetanova also recorded three aces.
On the defensive end,
Ashley Roman was credited with 11 digs while
Aislynn Weaver and
Khala Cameron tallied four apiece.
Ahzhi Coleman added a pair of blocks in her collegiate debut as the Eagles held Bethune-Cookman to a miniscule -.012 hitting percentage.
Coppin never trailed in the opening set as they fed
Miajavon Coleman early and often. Coleman recorded three kills on her first three swings and Hicks added two more to give CSU an early, 5-2 advantage. The Wildcats maintained their distance and tied it up at 16-16, but a pair of Bethune errors sandwiching a kill by Coleman forced a timeout at 19-16. After a CSU error made it a 20-18 score, Coleman recorded a pair of kills and Tsvetanova served up a pair of aces as the Eagles closed the frame on a 5-0 run to win, 25-18.
In the second set, Coppin went on a 5-1 run midway through to take a 13-9 lead and prompt a Bethune timeout. The Wildcats responded with three-straight points but the trio of Celestine, Casel and Coleman followed up with kills, and Celestine added another to force another stoppage at 18-14. After trading points, Hopkins confused the Wildcats with a kill from the set and
DeMia Goddard added a pair of aces to put the set out of reach.
The final set did not start off strong as Bethune got out to a 7-3 lead which caused a Coppin timeout. The Wildcats kept up their momentum to lead by as many as 11-4 but the Eagles slowly clawed their way back before taking their first lead at 19-18 following a kill by Celestine, followed by an ace and block from Tsvetanova. Following a Wildcats timeout, Coppin closed the set on a 4-1 run, capped off by kills from Tsvetanova, Coleman and Cameron.
Coppin is set to take on host Georgia Southern on Saturday afternoon at 12:30 followed by Presbyterian at 4 pm. The Battle of the Eagles will air on ESPN+.
