HUNTINGTON, WV – Coppin State's volleyball team travels to the Midwest for the Marshall Invitational on September 1-2 where it will face UNC Greensboro, Morehead State and the host Thundering Herd. The Eagles open the weekend with UNC Greensboro at 12 pm on Friday, followed by Morehead State at 3 pm and Marshall the following afternoon at 1 pm.
Live Stats will be available for all matches by logging onto the CSU volleyball schedule at www.coppinstatesports.com
LAST TIME OUT
The Eagles went 2-1 at Auburn University's War Eagle Invitational last weekend with impressive sweeps of McNeese and Jacksonville State while taking a set from the host Tigers who are ranked just outside the AVCA Top 25 and advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament in 2022.
SERIES HISTORY
Coppin is 0-7 all-time against UNC Greensboro, Morehead State and Marshall, falling to the Spartans and Thundering Herd twice and MSU three times. Last year against UNCG, Coppin held a 2-1 advantage before dropping the fourth and fifth sets in extras.
vs. UNC Greensboro (0-2)
9/11/21 N L, 3-1
8/27/22 A L, 3-2
vs. Morehead State (0-3)
9/9/05 N L, 3-0
9/16/16 A L, 3-1
9/20/19 A L, 3-0
vs. Marshall (0-2)
9/10/05 N L, 3-0
9/20/19 N L, 3-0
SCOUTING THE FIELD
UNC GREENSBORO
The Spartans opened the season at Georgia Southern's Bash in the Boro and came away with a pair of losses to East Carolina and another loss to the host Eagles. Jocelyn led UNCG with 21 kills, followed by Madeline Timmerman with 15 and both Aylin Baran and Hallie Cook with 11. Timmerman led Spartans hitters with a .306 hitting percentage. Way Wood, Mallory Meers and Avery Sziksai all averaged over two digs/set while Timmerman led the team with three blocks.
MOREHEAD STATE
MSU won all three of its matches at its Eagle Challenge, sweeping Stonehill, Queens and USC Upstate. ME Hargan and Amelia Nott had 31 and 30 kills, respectively, followed by Irene Wogenstahl (23), Maycie Welborn (22) and Hollan Everett (19). Brenna Bommer averaged 11.33 assists/set along with 2.56 digs. Defensive specialists Peighton Isley (6.44 digs) and Shea Hefner (3.56) had impressive matches in the backrow while the trio of Nott, Welborn and Wogenstahl were dominant at the block.
MARSHALL
The Thundering Herd swept Bethune-Cookman twice after being swept by The Citadel last weekend in Daytona Beach. Kylee Stokes led the way offensively with 26 kills, followed by Jazminn Parrish (21) and Sarah Wadsworth (20) while being quarterbacked by Brynn Brown at 8.22 assists. Bria Samilton averaged 4.67 digs while riley Winslow put up ten digs in just two sets. At the block, CSU must be wary of Lydia Montague and Stokes who combined for 23 total blocks.
QUEEN OF ACES
After leading the Nation in aces & aces/set last year, Andrea Tsvetanova is the CSU all-time record holder in the category, leads all active players in aces per set and 4th among total aces.
Her 114 aces were tied for the 3rd-most in the NCAA since the 25-point scoring format started in 2008. Her 0.86 aces/set was the 4th most during that stretch. She matched an NCAA record with 15 aces in a 3-set match vs. South Carolina State.
2022 NCAA Aces/Set
1. Andrea Tsvetanova (Coppin) 0.86
2. Abby Nieporte (Lafayette) 0.74
2022 NCAA Service Aces
1. Tsvetanova (Coppin) 114
2. Mia Wesley (Southern Miss.) 77
NCAA Active Career Aces
1. Brigitta Petrenko (Louisville) 201 (399g)
2. Carissa Barnes (Texas) 179 (408g)
3. Dani Richins (Weber St) 169 (435g)
4. Tsvetanova (Coppin) 167 (243g)
NCAA Active Aces/Set (min. 100 SA)
1. Tsvetanova (Coppin) 0.69
2. Malgorzata Andersohn (ETSU) 0.52
HISTORY MADE IN THREE SETS
In the season opening sweep against McNeese, Andrea Tsvetanova recorded 44 assists, the most of her career in a three-set match. It was the most assists by a CSU player since Chelsee Sauni, Coppin's all-time leader in assists, had 47 assists in a win at Maryland Eastern Shore on November 3, 2013. It was also the most by any MEAC player since Stephanie Shultis of Howard had 46 at Delaware State on October 26, 2014.
DIGGING TO THE TOP
Ashley Roman has been named 1st Team All-MEAC all four years and has received the league's Defensive Player of the Year all three times it's been awarded. Already the CSU record holder for digs, she is nearing the MEAC record held by Ashley Preston, who also coached at Coppin from 2012-14. Roman is among the NCAA active leaders in digs with 1,987 and is currently ranked 5th among active players. Her 4.73 digs/set is also the 8th most amongst the active players with at least 1,500 digs.
NCAA Active Career Digs
1. Tara Beilsmith (SEMO) 2,294
2. Carissa Barnes (Texas) 2,231
3. Rocio Morio (N. Florida) 2,197
4. Ellie Snook (USC)... 2,175
5. Ashley Roman (Coppin) 1,987
TK 3-FOR-3
TaKenya Stafford was impressive in her CSU debut, recording three double-doubles in as many matches at Auburn's war Eagle Invitational. In the opener against McNeese, Stafford hit .321 with a team-high 15 kills along with 14 digs. She followed up with ten kills and 11 digs against a tough Auburn squad before concluding the weekend with a team-high 12 kills and ten digs. Stafford had three double-doubles as a freshman at Eastern Illinois in 2021.
TAKING THE LEAD
Ammaarah Williams was a two-time First Team All-MEAC selection at NC Central before transferring to Coppin last season where she earned the honor once again. In her first season at Coppin, Williams led CSU in points while ranking second to Miajavon Coleman with a career-high 337 kills. She also ranked second on the team with 42 aces and fourth in both digs and blocks. Williams is expected to lead the team from the pin this season while being one of the squad's top blockers as well.
GIGI A SILENT KILLER
While Ammaarah Williams and TaKenya Stafford got much of the hype during the opening weekend at Auburn, Geraldyn Palacios also had an impressive week in the middle. Hitting a team-high .373 with 24 kills in three matches, Palacios recorded a career-high 11 kills on 25 swings to hit .360 against McNeese. She hit an identical .385 against Auburn and Jacksonville State with a combined 13 kills and seven blocks in the two matches.
WELCOME BACK P
Paola Caten returns from injury this season as one of the most all-around players in school-history. An All-Rookie selection in 2019, she made 2nd Team in the Spring 2021 season and first team in Fall 2021. She enters this year just outside Coppin's top ten in kills and digs while ranking eighth in both aces and points. She owns a school-record with 71 attacks in a single match as she recorded a career-high 28 kills along with 16 digs for 30.5 points in a 5-set loss at NC Central. NCCU was led by current CSU player Ammaarah Williams with 19 kills.
OUT OF HER SHADOW
For the first time in her collegiate career, Ahzhi Coleman will not have her sister Miajavon Coleman as a teammate. While the older Coleman proved to be one of the top players in MEAC history, Ahzhi has made her own legacy at Coppin. After being an All-Rookie Team selection in 2021 with a team-high 57 blocks to go with 138 kills, she increased her production to 162 kills and 71 blocks while hitting .250. In just two seasons, she is nearing CSU's top ten in blocks with 131 in her career.
BREAKOUT SOPHOMORE YEAR
After seeing limited time as a freshman, Hope Casel stepped up in a big way during the 2022 season. Casel nearly tripled her kills from her freshman season and finished fourth on the team with 11 on the season. She also doubled her blocks from the previous season with 36 on the season.
TOWERS IN THE MIDDLE
Geraldyn Palacios returns to her starting spot at middle blocker after ranking among the league-leaders in blocks and hitting percentage last season. With the graduation of Yaniris Miller-Green, who is now playing professionally, Coppin expects sophomore Laila Ibrahim to take a major step up in playing time. Ibrahim flashed last season with three blocks at Virginia Tech.
TK OFFERS HOLLYWOOD VIBES
TaKenya Stafford, a transfer from Eastern Illinois, brings a different kind of vibe to the Eagles this season and is expected to be an immediate starter at the pin. Hailing from Los Angeles, TK recorded 76 kills with 177 digs in 15 matches for the Panthers in 2021. Recording 14 kills with 13 digs in her collegiate debut vs. Bellarmine, she had back to-back double-doubles at Belmont later in the season (20k/14d & 14k/10d). She appeared in just two matches last season.
NEW TO THE NEST
Including TaKenya Stafford, Coppin welcomes six newcomers to West Baltimore. Divine Muo is a transfer from Stephen F. Austin while Andrea Serrano comes from Hutchinson CC in Kansas. The Eagles also brought in three true freshmen in Coco Figueroa (Bayamon, P.R.), Cameron Lucas (Atlanta, Ga.) & Kaliko Schilling (Hauula, Hawaii).
5 SEASONS OF MEAC SUCCESS
Over the last five seasons, Coppin has been one of the top programs in the MEAC. Since 2018, the Eagles have the second-best record in the league which included the program's first regular season title & winning season in the Spring 2020 campaign. From 2005 to 2017, Coppin won just 45 conference games.
MEAC STANDINGS SINCE 2018
Howard................... 49-16 (75.4%)
Coppin State........... 44-19 (69.8%)
2022 NON-CONFERENCE PROWESS
Coppin State won a school-record nine matches in non-conference play before starting MEAC competition last season. Among the highlights was the Liberty University Invitational Championship where the Eagles defeated Liberty, Radford and Eastern Michigan. CSU also defeated a trio of SWAC schools at the ISTAP HBCU Challenge in Alabama, as well as George Washington, North Carolina A&T & Bethune-Cookman.
