BALTIMORE – Coppin State's volleyball team picked up its 20
th win of the season with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-20) victory over Morgan State in the regular season finale on Friday night at PEC Arena. The Eagles, who won their fourth MEAC Regular Season title, all coming this decade, now stand at 20-11 overall and finished conference play at 13-1. Morgan State will enter next weeks MEAC Tournament at 11-13 overall while going 8-6 in league play.
CSU has now won at least 20 matches in three of the last four seasons, going to the NIVC in 2022, and the NCAA Tournament in 2023 after winning its first-ever MEAC Tournament.
TaKenya Stafford broke the CSU single-season record for kills, leading all players with 16 kills on .353 hitting to go with 12 digs for her 50
th career double-double. A senior from Los Angeles, Calif., Stafford closed the regular season with 447 kills, surpassing
Brittany Arvin's 2005 season mark of 436.
Ivanna Luna added eight kills while hitting .357 on 14 swings, followed by
Kayden Cupid with five,
Ayanna Pharoah and
Cherisse Atilano with four apiece,
Deviana Walker with three,
Araya Garrison with two and
Ahzhi Coleman with one. Atilano matched Stafford with 12 digs, added three aces, and was one of four Eagles with one block. Cupid led Coppin with three blocks, including a solo variety.
Senior setters
Azul Pilahg (19) and
Andrea Serrano (15) combined for 34 assists while adding four digs apiece with Serrano adding an ace as well. The duo quarterbacked the offense to a .252 hitting percentage, while
Coco Figueroa, who recorded 12 digs, five assists and two aces, held Morgan State to a .140 hitting percentage.
After Morgan State scored the first point of the game, Coppin scored the next six points and looked well in control. The Bears fought back to tie the score at nine and ten, before CSU answered with a 5-0 run and continued to pull away.
Coppin never trailed in the second, and looked to run away with it early on, before the Bears cut into the lead. Clinging to a 21-19 advantage, the Eagles got a kill from Atilano and back-to-back kills from Luna before an attack error gave CSU the second set.
Morgan held its largest lead of the match at 7-3 in the third, but Coppin was able to get back in gear and used a 5-0 run to turn a 14-12 deficit into a 17-14 lead. The Bears pulled back within 20-19 before back-to-back kills from Cupid and another by Walker made it a 23-20 score. After an MSU kill, Coppin won it on another kill by Walker followed by an ace by Atilano.
Coppin will host 8
th-seeded South Carolina State in the MEAC Quarterfinals at 2:00 pm on Thursday, November 20. The Tournament opens with the No. 4/No. 5 match at 11:00 am with the opening day closing with the No. 2/No. 7 match at 5:00 pm and the No. 3/No. 6 match at 8:00 pm.
