BALTIMORE – Coppin State's volleyball team hit an impressive .464, its highest hitting percentage in just over ten years, in a 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-9) victory at Morgan State on Friday night at Hill Field House. The Eagles finished the regular season at 15-15 overall and 11-3 in the MEAC and will enter next week's conference tournament as the 2
nd seed.
CSU posted 47 kills with just eight errors on 84 attempts to put away the Bears. It was Coppin's best hitting percentage in a match since it hit .538, most likely the school-record, in a 3-0 win at Delaware State on October 10, 2014.
TaKenya Stafford, the reigning MEAC Tournament Most Outstanding Performer, led all players with 16 kills on 25 swings. A redshirt junior from Los Angeles, Calif., Stafford made just one error on the attack to hit .600 while adding seven digs and a pair of aces.
Deviana Walker also eclipsed double digits with ten kills on .467 swinging.
Ahzhi Coleman matched Stafford with a .600 hitting percentage with six kills on ten attempts.
Gabriela Zuquelo hit an errorless .545 with six kills.
Sophia Bertotti Metoyer also had six kills, followed by
Ezgi Kucuk with three.
The setting duo of
Kahea Carvalho (20) and
Azul Pilahg (18) combined for 38 assists and 11 digs while
Coco Figueroa added seven more. Figueroa tallied a match-high 18 digs and served three aces as well.
In the opening set, Coppin never trailed and pulled away with a late 7-1 run despite being in control the entire set. The Eagles hit .464 in the set with 16 kills on 28 swings.
Morgan led early in the second set until Coppin scored five unanswered points to take a 6-4 lead. A service error by the Eagles made it a one-point differential until CSU scored six of the next seven points to get some distance between itself and its crosstown rival. The Eagles hit .387 compared to just .086 for the Bears.
The Eagles hit .650 in the third set, recording 16 kills on 25 attempts and took their largest lead with the match-winning point. Coppin got a kill from Bertotti Metoyer to open the frame and scored six of the first seven points of the frame. After Morgan pulled to within 8-3, Coppin recorded another six-straight points and never looked back.
Up Next: The same two teams will meet in the MEAC Quarterfinals on Friday, November 22 at 5:30 pm in Dover, Del.
