BALTIMORE – Coppin State's volleyball team clinched the MEAC Regular Season title with a 3-1 (25-23, 22-25, 25-15, 25-14) victory against Maryland Eastern Shore on Friday night at PEC Arena. The Eagles improved to 18-11 overall and 11-1 in conference play while the Hawks fell to 9-16 on the year and 6-6 in the MEAC.
TaKenya Stafford and
Cherisse Atilano both posted double-doubles to go with a match-high 13 kills apiece with Atilano also leading all players with 16 digs. Atilano also had .393 with three aces while Stafford tallied 14 digs and a pair of blocks.
Ayanna Pharoah also had double-digit kills with ten on .280 hitting to go with three blocks and three digs. She was followed up on the offensive end by
Ivanna Luna with eight kills and four blocks while
Kayden Cupid added seven kills on 14 swings to go with a match-high seven blocks.
Ahzhi Coleman was also a factor on defense with three blocks.
Setters
Andrea Serrano (24) and
Azul Pilahg (13) combined for 37 assists while
Andrea Cintron was credited with six assists to go with an ace in her two sets. The trio led the Eagles to a .256 hitting percentage while
Coco Figueroa and her 14 digs helped hold UMES to .131 hitting.
Figueroa also had four aces, helping her eclipse 100 career aces.
In the opening set, Coppin rallied from a 19-15 deficit, pulling to within 22-21 following a block from Cupid and Pharoah. The Hawks answered with a kill but the Eagles closed the frame with four-straight points, including back-to-back kills by Luna to finish it off.
CSU opened the second with three-straight points, but UMES battled back and took the lead with a 5-0 run midway through the second. Coppin retook the advantage with six of the next seven points before the Hawks closed the frame with a 7-2 run.
The final two sets were all Coppin with the Navy & Gold combining to hit .382 while holding the Hawks to just .036. In the third, Coppin began to pull away with a 6-1 run midway through to go up, 13-6 and never looked back.
Set four saw Coppin take control early before UMES pulled to within 11-8. The three-point margin was as close as the guests got as Coppin sealed the frame with a 6-0 run featuring a kill and an ace by Atilano. Stafford finished the Hawks off with a kill to clinch the top seed in the MEAC Tournament later this month.
CSU returns to action on Sunday, November 9 at Delaware State for a 1 pm clash.
