BALTIMORE – TaKenya Stafford posted a double-double 12 kills and ten digs to lead to the Coppin State volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-13, 25-16) victory over South Carolina State on Friday night at PEC Arena. The Eagles improved to 7-11 overall and 3-0 in the MEAC while the Bulldogs fall to 1-12 on the year and 0-3 in league play.
A redshirt junior from Los Angeles, Calif., Stafford did not commit an error on 19 swings and hit an impressive .632 on the night. The double-double was her league-leading ninth of the season.
Gabriela Zuquelo was also in double figures with ten kills, followed by
Sophia Bertotti Metoyer with seven kills on .583 hitting, and
Payton Swinton with six kills on 11 attempts to hit .364.
Kahea Carvalho and
Azul Pilahg combined for 32 assists on the team's 38 kills with Carvalho leading the way with 22 assists. The duo guided the CSU offense to a .247 hitting percentage.
Defensively,
Coco Figueroa led all players with 15 digs.
McKenzie Parks was credited with a team-high four blocks, followed by Stafford with three and Bertotti Metoyer with a pair as the Eagles held the Bulldogs to a -.043 hitting percentage.
In the opening set, Coppin got off to a fast start with five-straight points on four kills. The Bulldogs scored the next two points to pull as close as 5-2 but that was as close as they'd get the rest of the frame. CSU answered with a 7-1 run to pull away to take a 12-3 lead and never looked back.
South Carolina State kept it close in the second set early on before CSU scored five-straight to take a 16-7 lead. The Bulldogs got no closer than seven points the rest of the set.
With Coppin clinging to a 16-15 lead after a Bulldogs kill, the Eagles scored the next seven-straight points to go up 23-15. Following a service error, Zuquelo recorded a kill and Figueroa finished off the match with an ace.
The Eagles return to action on Sunday, October when they host NC Central at 1:00 pm on ESPN+.
