FAIRFAX, Va. – TaKenya Stafford led all players with 21 kills and added 16 digs as Coppin State's volleyball team came away with a highly-contested, 3-2 (25-23, 19-25, 25-18, 24-26, 15-11) victory at George Mason on Thursday night at the Recreation & Athletic Complex. The Eagles improved to 6-7 on the year while snapping the Patriots' (6-4) three-match win streak.
Stafford, the reigning MEAC Player of the Week, proved why she is the top all-around player in the league, hitting .340 on 50 swings to go with four assists and an ace. A redshirt senior from Los Angeles, Calif., Stafford now has a league-high nine double-doubles and is the Nation's leader in total kills (194). Stafford now has 1,049 career kills, and 973 kills in just two-plus seasons in a CSU uniform.
Cherisse Atilano also finished with a double-double, tallying ten kills with 13 digs to go with a team-high three service aces.
Ivanna Luna added eight kills, followed by
McKenzie Parks with a season-high seven kills on 13 swings to hit .462 while adding a pair of blocks. Also contributing on the offensive end was
Kayden Cupid with six,
Andrea Cintron with three and
Payton Swinton with a pair.
Cintron finished a dig shy of a double-double, assisting on 27 of the team's 58 kills while
Azul Pilahg was credited with 18 assists and eight digs. The duo quarterbacked the Eagles' attack to a .205 hitting percentage.
Coco Figueroa was a stalwart in the back row once again, leading all players with 24 digs to go with seven assists and a pair of aces while holding Mason to a .180 hitting percentage. The junior is rapidly climbing the CSU charts with 896 career digs and leads all NCAA Division I with 277 digs this season.
The service game was a big factor for both teams with Coppin recording nine service aces and 12 service errors. Mason was credited with six aces and 14 service errors.
How it Happened
- Coppin rallied from a 15-7 deficit to take the opening set, quickly closing the margin to 18-17 with three straight points along with a 6-1 run.
- Mason stopped the drought with three-straight points, which was matched by Coppin before the Eagles tied the score at 22.
- After a GMU block, Coppin closed the frame with three-straight points which included a kill and a block by Araya Garrison to finish it.
- The hosts controlled nearly all of set two and Coppin pulled away in the middle stages of the third to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
- Set four went back and fourth in the later stages as Coppin maintained control early.
- A kill by Stafford gave Coppin the opportunity to close the match, but the Patriots scored three-straight points to force a fifth set.
- The Eagles never trailed in the fifth set despite Mason tying the score on five different occasions.
- CSU took an 11-9 lead before two-straight Patriots points which deadlocked the score at 11.
- Stafford gave Coppin back the lead, and after a bad set by Mason, Luna finished the Green & Gold off with a pair of kills.
Up Next: The Eagles are back in action on Friday, September 19 when they battle Rutgers at 5 pm to close out the Patriot Invitational. Coppin will also take on Seton Hall on Saturday, September 20 at XFINITY Center at 4 pm.
