NORFOLK, Va. - TaKenya Stafford posted a double-double 21 kills and 12 digs in a 3-1 (25-19, 25-21, 24-26, 25-15) victory at Norfolk State on Friday night at Gill Gymnasium. The Eagles even their record at 14-14 and improve to 10-2 in the MEAC while the Spartans fall to 12-13 on the year and 6-6 in league play.
Stafford made just four errors on 50 attempts to hit .340 on the night and she added four assists, a block and an ace.
Ahzhi Coleman was also impressive on offense, recording nine kills with just one error on 15 attempts to hit .533, and she was followed by
Sophia Bertotti Metoyer and
Payton Swinton with seven kills apiece.
McKenzie Parks added six kills with
Ezgi Kucuk recording five,
Gabriela Zuquelo with four and
Kahea Carvalho with three.
Carvalho (25) and
Azul Pilahg (24) combined for 49 assists and
Coco Figueroa recorded five more as the Eagles hit .279 to Norfolk State's .226.
Defensively, Zuquelo led the back row with 18 digs and added a pair of aces. Figueroa tallied 17 digs and served a match-high four aces.
In the opening set, Coppin rallied from 13-10 and 15-13 deficits, with a 6-0 run to go up, 19-15. Stafford and Coleman both had a pair of kills during the spurt. Norfolk State pulled back within 20-18 before back-to-back kills by Coleman and an ace by Stafford put the set out of reach.
With Coppin clinging to an 18-17 lead in the second, Swinton had kills at either end of a 4-0 run to take a 22-17 lead. The Spartans were able to get within 23-21 before Parks and Stafford ended the frame with kills.
Coppin was unable to finish the sweep despite going up 19-14 in the third. Norfolk State responded with a 7-1 run to take the lead before an error tied it up at 21. After trading points, Norfolk took the set after a CSU service error and a kill.
After Norfolk started the fourth set with an ace, Coppin went off with eight-straight points before the Spartans stopped the drought. Coppin added another three-straight points to go up 11-2 and never looked back, extending its lead to as many as 24-13. After back-to-back points by NSU, Stafford sealed the match with a kill.
The Eagles are back home on Sunday, November 10 when they host Howard in a 3 pm start on ESPN+. Prior to the match, Coppin will honor its seniors
Ahzhi Coleman and
Sophia Bertotti Metoyer.
