JoFAIRFAX, Va. – Wrapping up the George Mason Invitational,
Andrea Tsvetanova set a Coppin State volleyball record for the most assists in a three-set match against a non-conference team, tallying 41 in a 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-16) victory over the host Patriots on Saturday night. In the effort, Tsvetanova directed the Eagles (5-5) to a season-high .308 hitting percentage.
A junior from Sofia, Bulgaria, Tsvetanova tallied 15 assists in the opening set, 14 in the second and 12 more in the third to establish the school-record. Her 41 assists are the most in a 3-set match by a CSU player against any team since October 10, 2014 when
Chelsee Sauni had 42 in a win at Delaware State.
Tsvetanova directed a well-balanced attack as
Miajavon Coleman (12),
Paola Caten (11) and
Sydney Hicks (10) all reached double digits in kills. Coleman hit an impressive .357 with six digs while Hicks hit .421. Caten also had eight digs, matching Tsvetanova and
Aislynn Weaver for the second-most on the team to
Ashley Roman's match-high 16. Roman reached the 1,000 dig plateau in the match, becoming just the 4th player in CSU History to do so.
Jordan Celestine also had eight kills on .400 hitting and added a pair of blocks, giving her 199 in her career. Fellow middle,
Ahzhi Coleman tallied five kills and the combo of Tsvetanova and Roman combined for five aces.
Following the Tournament, Caten and Celestine were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Coppin overcame a 3-0 deficit in the opening set but never trailed after rallying to take a 11-9 lead following a service error and a kill by Caten. The Eagles led 15-13 at the media timeout and extended the lead with back-to-back kills by Celestine and
Miajavon Coleman. George Mason fought back to tie the score at 21-21, but kills from Caten and Hicks forced a timeout, and Hicks who had five kills with no errors in the frame, finished the Patriots off with a kill.
After trading points early in the second set, Coppin began to pull away with kills from Celestine and Coleman just before the media timeout. A 3-0 run anchored by kills from Celestine and Caten forced a Patriots timeout, but a 3-0 GMU run then forced a CSU timeout at 19-17. Following the stoppage, kills from
Ahzhi Coleman and Hicks sandwiched an ace by Tsvetanova, and Hicks once again sealed the win with a kill.
The Eagles went on a 5-0 run to take an 8-3 lead with a pair of kills by
Miajavon Coleman while the defense forced a trio of GMU errors. George Mason rallied to within 11-10 before a kill from
Ahzhi Coleman stopped the run. Roman later delivered with a pair of service aces and CSU closed it out on a 6-1 run with Tsvetanova finishing it off with a kill on her lone attack of the match.
In the opener, Coppin won the first set over UNC Greensboro but dropped the next three to the Spartans (18-25, 27-25, 25-21, 25-21).
Miajavon Coleman had a team-high 12 kills to go with 16 digs for a double-double while
Ahzhi Coleman and Caten (18 digs) finished with eight kills apiece. Celestine added seven more kills and Hicks chipped in with six more.
Tsvetanova split time with
Kareemah Hopkins at setter and had a team-high 32 assists compared to Hopkins' seven. Roman had a team-high 20 digs while Weaver was credited with a career-high 16 while matching Tsvetanova and
Khala Cameron with a pair of aces.
The Eagles used a 6-2 run midway through the first set to take a 12-8 lead and UNCG got no closer than three points the rest of the way. Coppin closed the set with four consecutive points thanks to a pair of kills by
Miajavon Coleman and an ace by Cameron to end it.
CSU kept up the momentum to start the second set, scoring the first five points thanks to a pair of kills and a block by Hicks. The Spartans then ran off nine-straight points, but Coppin rallied to tie the score. UNCG went on a 4-0 run to take a 20-16 lead but the Eagles fought back once again and held a set-point at 24-23 after a kill by
Miajavon Coleman. Following a pair of Spartans points, Hicks tied it with a kill, but a pair of CSU errors gave UNCG the set.
Coppin held a three-point lead early in the third set, but the score remained tight for most of the frame. However, the Spartans scored four-straight to end the set and they followed it up in the fourth with a trio of 3-0 runs to take the match.
The Eagles return to action on Wednesday, September 15 when they host Loyola University Maryland at 6 pm.
