FAIRFAX, Va. – After winning the first two sets, Coppin State's volleyball team fell to Robert Morris, 3-2 (23-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-22, 15-10) in the opening match of the George Mason Invitational on Friday afternoon at the Recreation Athletic Complex. The Eagles fall to 4-4 on the season while the Colonials improve to 5-2.
Paola Caten led all players with 18 kills while hitting .273, recording just three errors on 55 swings while adding 16 digs for a double-double.
Miajavon Coleman also had a double-double with 15 kills and 15 digs while
Jordan Celestine added 12 kills and a team-high three blocks.
Coppin also got offensive contributions from
Ahzhi Coleman with five kills as
Sydney Hicks and
Hope Casel chipped in with four kills apiece. Directing much of the offense was
Andrea Tsvetanova who dished out 40 assists to go with eight digs and three aces, but the Eagles were outhit .273 to .176.
On the defensive end,
Ashley Roman tallied 20 digs and
Aislynn Weaver added 12. Celestine had a team-high three blocks.
The Eagles never trailed in the opening set, extending their advantage to as many as six points at 12-6 on a pair of kills by Caten and another by
Miajavon Coleman. Three-straight Robert Morris points cut the lead in half, but Coppin built the lead back to 18-12 as its defense forced three-straight Colonials errors. Once again, RMU fought back, this time to within two points, but CSU recorded five kills in the closing rallies to take the opener.
Four early kills by
Miajavon Coleman gave Coppin an early advantage in the second set at 10-7, but Robert Morris took its first lead of the match with four-straight points at 11-10. After trading points, the Colonials built a three-point lead at 17-14 but Coppin ran off nine-straight points with kills from five different players to take a 23-17 lead. Caten added a kill to make it a 24-19 advantage, but after a RMU kill, the Colonials served an error to give CSU a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
Coppin looked like it was going to close out the Colonials as a 5-0 run midway through the frame gave the Eagles a 22-15 lead. Robert Morris then responded with three-straight points to force a timeout and ran off three more to pull to within 22-21.
Kyndall Johnson stopped the rally with a kill but the Colonials scored four-straight to take the set, 25-23.
The fourth set looked like the third as Coppin held an early lead, but Robert Morris rallied to retake the advantage at 18-17. Following a Colonials service error, one of 18 for the Colonials on the day which tied it up at 18-18, RMU scored three-straight to go up 21-18 and CSU could not put back-to-back points together in response.
After trading points to start the deciding set, Robert Morris went on a 4-1 run to take a 5-2 lead. Coppin pulled to within 5-4 but was unable to tie the score at any point and RMU closed the match on a 4-1 run.
Coppin returns to the court on Saturday, September 11 for a pair of games as it wraps up the George Mason Invitational. The Eagles will face UNC Greensboro at 11 am followed by the host Patriots at 7 pm which will air on ESPN+.
