HUNTINGTON, WV – Ammaarah Williams led Coppin State's volleyball team to back-to-back victories at the Marshall Invitational on Friday afternoon as the Eagles defeated UNC Greensboro, 3-1, before coming right back to sweep Morehead State, 3-0 at the Cam Henderson Center. The graduate student from Cleveland, Ohio, had 33 kills and 23 digs in the two wins.
Coppin State def. UNC Greensboro, 3-1
Williams posted a double-double with 17 kills and 14 digs in the 25-18, 19-25, 25-22, 25-21 victory to open the weekend. TaKenya Stafford finished right behind her with 16 kills while hitting an impressive .371 along with seven digs.
Geraldyn Palacios added eight kills, followed by Laila Ibrahim with five. Andrea Tsvetanova posted 43 assists and a pair of aces while the Eagles hit .217 as a team.
Ashley Roman was credited with 27 digs, followed by Williams and freshman Coco Figueroa with 11.
The Eagles went on a 5-0 run early in the opening set to take a 9-5 lead with Stafford posting three kills in the stretch. Coppin extended its advantage to as many as 22-13 before taking the opener, 25-18. Stafford had six kills on nine swings in the frame to hit a whopping .667.
Coppin led for most of the second set, but the Spartans used a 7-1 run following a timeout to turn a 16-13 deficit into a 20-17 lead. Stafford answered with back-to-back bills to pull within one but UNCG closed the set with five-straight points.
After falling behind, 6-3, Coppin battled back to tie the score at eight before taking the lead with a 3-0 run which was highlighted by an ace from Genesis Hernandez, followed by a block by Williams and Ayanna Pharoah. CSU maintained the lead the rest of the set and Williams finished it off with a kill.
In the fourth, Coppin got three-straight kills from Williams, who had seven in the frame, to go on a 5-0 run and take a 14-10 lead. The Spartans pulled to within two points a couple times in the frame, but Williams, Ibrahim and Stafford had kills down the stretch to take the match.
Coppin State def. Morehead State, 3-0
Williams hit a season-high .343 with 16 kills on 35 swings while finishing a dig shy of a double-double. Stafford added six kills, followed by Palacios and Ibrahim with five apiece.
Tsvetanova recorded 25 kills and five aces as Coppin hit a season-high .302 for the match. Roman led all players with ten digs, followed by Williams with nine and both Tsvetanova and Stafford with eight apiece.
Coppin never trailed in the opener and pulled away with a 5-0 run midway through the frame as Palacios and Williams combined for three kills. CSU used another 4-0 run late in the set as Ahzhi Coleman recorded a kill, followed by a pair of aces from Tsvetanova and a kill by Williams. Williams capped the set with a kill as well.
After falling behind early, Coppin used a series of runs to get back into it and got three kills from Williams during a 6-1 to take a 16-11 lead. CSU pulled away with a 4-0 run as Palacios, Stafford and Paola Caten recorded kills. Caten and Williams also recorded kills in the final three points to give Coppin a 2-0 advantage in the match.
Morehead State went on a 7-1 run early in the third set to take a 13-9 lead, but Coppin answered the call with four-straight points on two aces from Tsvetanova and two kills from Williams to tie it up. After a MSU kill, Coppin scored five-straight to take an 18-14 lead. Morehead pulled to within a single point three times but Coppin forced a pair of errors down the stretch to complete the sweep.
Up Next
Coppin will look for its fourth-straight win as the battle Marshall University in a 1 pm start on Saturday, September 2.
