NORFOLK, Va. – Coppin State's
Ashley Roman won her third-straight MEAC Defensive Player of the Year award while
Tim Walsh was named MEAC Coach of the Year for the second time in the last three seasons, it was announced by the league office on Tuesday afternoon. Additionally,
Andrea Tsvetanova shared Setter of the Year accolades with Howard's Kayla Diaz.
Roman and Tsvetanova, along with
Miajavon Coleman and
Ammaarah Williams received First Team All-MEAC honors while
Kennedy Beatty was named to the All-Rookie Team.
Roman led the MEAC in digs once again, averaging 4.77 per set while breaking her own single-season school record with 548 digs. A senior from Isabela, Puerto Rico, Roman added a career-high 32 aces and was second on the Eagles with 89 assists. Roman started off the year strong with 30 digs in a season-opening win at North Carolina A&T and broke another record with 36 digs in a four-set match against American. Recording at least 20 digs in ten matches, Roman broke the school's all-time record for digs midway through the season and now stands second in MEAC history with 1,875 career digs. Roman has been named First Team All-MEAC all four seasons.
Walsh led the Eagles to their most wins in school history as the Navy & Gold went 21-9 while adding a school-record nine non-conference victories. With its third-straight winning season and second MEAC regular season title, Coppin also won the Liberty University Tournament with victories over the host Flames, Radford and Eastern Michigan.
Tsvetanova led the MEAC with 1,048 total assists and leads the Nation with 90 service aces and 0.78 aces per set en route to earning First Team honors. A senior from Sofia, Bulgaria, Tsvetanova also ranked among the conference leaders in digs per set (2.26). Tsvetanova notched a league-high 12 double-doubles, 22 matches with at least 30 assists and three matches with at least 50 assists. Breaking the MEAC record for aces in a season under the current scoring system, Tsvetanova was a six-time MEAC Setter of the Week and was named MVP of the Liberty University Tournament.
Coleman is receiving First Team All-MEAC honors for the fourth-straight season after earning Second Team and Rookie of the Year accolades as a freshman in 2018. A graduate student from San Antonio, Texas, Coleman led the MEAC with 307 total kills on .188 hitting while being the only player in the league to be ranked in both kills per set (2.74) and digs per set (2.32). Coleman also picked up her defensive game at the net, recoding a career-high 45 total blocks along with 15 service aces. Her 1,694 career kills is a school-record and is the fourth-most in MEAC history. Coleman also ranks fifth in CSU history in digs (1,023) and sixth blocks (181) while becoming the only player in school-history with 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.
In her first season with the Eagles, Williams picked up her third-straight First Team All-MEAC award after showcasing one of the top all-around games in the league. Williams ranked second in the MEAC with 3.23 points per set and 296 total kills, fifth in total aces (40), seventh in kills per set (2.60) and tenth in aces per set (0.35). A graduate student from Cleveland, Ohio, Williams was even better in conference play, putting up 2.76 kills per set, 3.50 points per set and 0.46 aces per set. Williams hit .188 for the season while putting up nearly two digs per set and ranking third on the Eagles with 62 total blocks.
Playing behind the top libero in the conference, Beatty averaged 1.36 digs per set and finished fourth on the team with 27 service aces. A freshman from Lexington, Ky., Beatty recorded a season-high ten digs at Norfolk State and posted at least eight digs in five other matches. Beatty also had multiple aces in eight matches and at least two assists six times. With her selection to the All-Rookie Team, Walsh has had at least one player on that list with all five of his recruiting classes.
Coppin earned the top seed in this weekend's MEAC Tournament to be played on the campus of Delaware State University. The Eagles open with No. 8 South Carolina State on Friday, November 18 at 11:30 am with the Semifinals on Saturday evening, followed by the Championship Match at 8:30 pm on Sunday on ESPNU.
