LAS VEGAS – Coppin State's volleyball team recorded a season-high 17.0 total blocks, led by
Laila Ibrahim with 11 in a 3-1 (25-19, 26-28, 25-18, 25-17) win over Portland on Saturday morning at Cox Pavilion. The Eagles improve to 10-2 on the season as they wrapped up the Rebel Challenge, hosted by UNLV.
Ammaarah Williams led a balanced offense with 13 kills, followed by
Takenya Stafford with 11,
Geraldyn Palacios with ten and
Laila Ibrahim with eight.
Paola Caten and
Hope Casel combined for eight while
Andrea Serrano and
Ashley Roman were credited with two each.
Serrano finished a dig shy of a double-double with 24 assists and nine digs while
Andrea Tsvetanova assisted on 17 kills.
Roman had a match-high 13 digs, but the blocks were the story with Palacios and Caten finishing with six apiece. Williams and Casel also had four as the Eagles outhit Portland, .234 to .072.
Following the match, Ibrahim and Palacios were named to the Rebel Challenge All-Tournament Team.
Set 1
- Tsvetanova opened the match with an ace and Coppin went on an early 4-0 run with a pair of kills by Stafford, a block by Caten and Palacios, and an ace by Serrano.
- Portland came right back with three-straight points to tie the score at seven, but after Palacios broke an 8-8 tie with a kill, the Eagles used the momentum to go on a 7-2 run and take a 15-10 lead after kills from Ibrahim and Casel.
- The Pilots did not go away and tied the score at 19 to force a CSU timeout.
- The stoppage paid off huge as Palacios started an Eagles run with a kill and the Pilots called a timeout after their own attack error.
- After a block from Ibrahim and Williams, Portland called another timeout trailing, 23-19, but Ibrahim and Caten came right back with a kill before Caten finished the opener with a kill.
Set 2
- The second set was a game of runs after the teams traded points to start.
- Portland had the first long stretch, turning a 7-5 deficit into a 10-7 lead and forcing a Coppin timeout.
- A kill by Palacios stopped the drought and Williams scored three-straight points with a backrow kill and a pair of aces at different spots of the court.
- The Pilots then called a timeout trailing, 15-13, but came right back to retake the lead at 17-16 and extended their advantage to 21-19.
- Palacios once again was the answer with a kill, and following a block from Caten and Ibrahim, Portland made another error and called its second timeout trailing, 22-21.
- Portland tied the score at 22, but a solo block from Ibrahim, a kill by Williams gave the Eagles the first set-point.
- CSU thought they had sealed it, but a challenge went the Pilots' way to force extras at 24-24.
- A kill from Casel gave Coppin a 26-25 advantage, but Portland recorded a kill and a pair of aces to even the match at a set apiece.
Set 3
- The third set saw the teams trading scores until Coppin turned an 11-9 deficit into a 15-11 lead with Stafford tallying a pair of kills, followed by points from Caten and Ibrahim and an ace by Roman.
- Portland pulled to within, 17-16, but Williams recorded a kill and a pair of Pilots errors gave CSU a 20-16 advantage and forced a timeout.
- Following the timeout, Portland got a point back with a successful challenge, cutting Coppin's lead to 19-17, but gave it right back with a service error.
- After another Pilots error, Williams recorded a kill and Coppin took the frame with back-to-back kills from Palacios and another from Serrano at the set.
Set 4
- A pair of blocks from Ibrahim midway through the set gave Coppin an 11-7 lead but Portland came right back with a 5-1 run to tie the score at 12.
- After trading points, Palacios stuffed the Pilots on back-to-back plays, helping the Eagles take a 17-14 lead and forcing a timeout.
- Coppin began to pull away and take the match in four sets, holding Portland to -.079 hitting in the final frame.
Up Next: Coppin opens conference play at Delaware State on Friday, September 22 at 6:00 pm in a rematch of last season's MEAC Championship Match.
