DURHAM, N.C. – Despite a couple of historic performances, the Coppin State volleyball team dropped a MEAC matchup at North Carolina Central, 3-2 (27-25, 13-25, 26-24, 23-25, 15-12) on Sunday afternoon at McDougald-McLendon Arena. Coppin now stands at 7-7 overall and 1-1 in the MEAC while NC Central improves to 3-8 on the year with a 2-0 mark in league play.
Paola Caten notched a career-high with a whopping 28 kills to go with 16 digs for a double-double while
Miajavon Coleman became the first CSU player to go for at least 20 kills and 20 digs in a single match, tallying 24 kills and a career-high 23 digs. It was just the second time in school-history that Coppin had a pair of players record at least 20 kills. Caten's 28 kills are the fourth-most in school-history.
The duo combined to hit .312 for the match as Coleman hit .352 with just five errors on 54 swings. Coleman became just the third CSU player to surpass 1,200 career kills (1,208) and is just 45 kills away from breaking
Cindy Okpegbue's school-record of 1,252 kills.
Ariel Richard is second on the all-time kills list with 1,223 kills. She also moved into tenth place on the school's all-time digs list with 622, passing former teammate Asia Stennis.
Jordan Celestine and
Sydney Hicks followed up with seven kills apiece and
Ahzhi Coleman chipped in with four more with Hicks leading the trio with 21 total attempts. Coleman was credited with three blocks, matching
Hope Casel for a team-high as Casel played just one set.
Andrea Tsvetanova also notched a double-double, putting up a season-high 60 assists with ten digs as Coppin outhit N.C. Central, .272 to .242. Her 60 assists are the third-most in school-history.
Ashley Roman matched
Miajavon Coleman and Central's Lauren Janok with a match-high 23 digs.
Aislynn Weaver was also solid in the back row with 14 digs.
The opening set was full of runs by both teams and featured 15 ties and eight lead changes. Coppin held a set-point at 25-24 following a kill by
Miajavon Coleman which forced a Central timeout, and the hosts responded with a pair of kills sandwiching a Coppin ball-handling error to take the set.
CSU dominated the second set, hitting a whopping .394 with 15 kills and just two errors on 33 swings. After trading points to start the frame, Coppin went on a 10-2 run to open up an 11-3 lead, and answered a Central kill with five-straight points and never looked back.
Coppin bounced back from an early 8-3 deficit in the third to take the lead and held a 16-14 advantage at one point. Central retook the lead with three-straight points, and following a kill by
Miajavon Coleman, scored three-straight to force a CSU timeout at 20-17. Coppin pulled to within 23-22 following a pair of kills from Caten and an ace from Tsvetanova, and tied the score at 24-24, but Central won the set on a kill from Janok and an ace.
The Navy & Gold once again had to fight back in the fourth set, falling behind 20-16, but pulled to within a point on a pair of Caten kills and a Central error. NC Central held a 22-21 advantage but a kill from Caten and back-to-back points from
Miajavon Coleman gave CSU the 24-22 lead at the timeout. Hicks was able to answer a kill from Janok to force a fifth set.
Despite the shortened deciding set, the final frame featured eight ties and four lead changes. Central made the first run with three-straight points to lead 6-4 and force a Coppin timeout. CSU forced a pair of errors out of the break to tie the score and retook a 9-8 lead on a kill from
Miajavon Coleman. Three-straight points by the host gave it a 11-9 lead and forced another Coppin timeout. CSU got to within a point on three occasions but could not get over the hump as Central sealed it with a pair of kills by Abby Vacha.
Coppin will look to rebound as they face their arch rival Morgan State on the road on Friday, October 1 at 6 pm.
