NORFOLK, Va. – Coming off a regular season title, its most wins in program-history and first-ever postseason bid, the Coppin State volleyball team has been picked tied for first in the MEAC Preseason Poll which was released on Tuesday. Additionally,
Ashley Roman,
Andrea Tsvetanova and
Ammaarah Williams were selected to the Preseason All-MEAC Team.
The Eagles received nine of 16 first place votes from the league's head coaches and sports information directors and totaled 112 points, as did Howard who picked up four first place votes. Delaware State was picked third, followed by Norfolk State, North Carolina Central, Maryland Eastern Shore, Morgan State and South Carolina State.
Joining Roman, Tsvetanova and Williams on the All-Conference Team were Delaware State's Alondra Maldonado and Howards' Jennifer Bolden, Kayla Diaz and Preseason Player of the Year Ryan McKinnon.
Roman is a four-time All-MEAC First Team selection and has earned the league's Defensive Player of the Year honor every year it has been awarded. A redshirt senior from Isabela, Puerto Rico, Roman is the school's all-time leader with 1,944 digs which ranks second-most in MEAC history. Roman enters her final collegiate season just 122 digs off the conference record of 2,066, held by Morgan State's Ashley Preston ('07), who also coached at Coppin from 2012-14. The 5-foot-5 libero shattered her own school-record last season with 617 digs while leading the conference with 4.67 digs/set and 13 matches with at least 20 digs, including a school-record 36 digs against American University. In her career, Roman averages 4.73 digs/set, has 43 matches with at least 20 digs and five matches with at least 30 digs.
Tsvetanova was the 2022 MEAC Co-Setter of the Year and earned First Team All-Conference honors last season after leading the league with a school-record 1,198 assists and 15 double-doubles while ranking second at 9.08 assists/set. A redshirt senior from Sofia, Bulgaria, Tsvetanova led NCAA Division I with a MEAC and CSU record 114 service aces and 0.86 aces/set. Tsvetanova matched an NCAA record for aces in a three-set match, recording a school-record 15 in a sweep of South Carolina State in the MEAC Tournament. The 5-foot-9 setter was one of the top defensive players in the league, ranking second on the Eagles with 303 digs (2.30 per set) along with 47 blocks. In just two seasons at Coppin, she owns the school record with 165 aces while ranking third with 2,028 assists. Named a VolleybalMag.com All-American last season, Tsvetanova closed last season ranked first among active players with 0.71 aces/set in their career and seventh in total aces.
Williams earned First Team All-MEAC accolades for the third-straight season in 2022, her first year at Coppin State. A graduate student from Cleveland, Ohio, Williams led the conference in total points (415.5) while ranking second in total kills (337). In conference play, Williams finished second with 3.50 points/set and fourth with 2.76 kills/set. Williams also ranked second on the team with 42 aces while putting up 1.95 digs/set and 0.53 blocks/set, both of which were fourth on the team. She enters her final collegiate season with 849 kills in 99 career matches while adding 260 total blocks, 104 aces and 484 digs.
Coppin opens the season at Auburn's War Eagle Invitational on August 25-26 where it starts with McNeese State at 11:00 am, followed by a clash with the host Tigers at 7 pm that night. CSU wraps up the weekend against Jacksonville State the following afternoon before hosting Hampton at 5:00 pm on Monday, August 28.
