NORFOLK, Va. – Coppin State's
TaKenya Stafford was named the MEAC Volleyball Player of the Week while teammate
Kayden Cupid received Defensive Player of the Week honors, it was announced by the league office on Monday afternoon. This is the second time this season that Stafford has received the MEAC's top weekly player honor, and the first-ever weekly award for Cupid.
Stafford led the Eagles to a pair of wins to open MEAC play, including a five-set win at Preseason favorite, Howard, on Friday night. A redshirt senior from Los Angeles, Calif., Stafford posted a season-high 25 kills with 11 digs and four blocks in the victory over the Bison while becoming just the fifth CSU player to record 1,000 career kills. Stafford tallied 15 kills on .500 hitting in a sweep of the Spartans to average 5.00 kills and 5.56 points/set.
For the season, Stafford leads the MEAC with ten double-doubles, second in both kills/set (3.67) and points/set (4.16) and eighth in digs/set (2.42). Stafford ranks fifth nationally with 246 kills and third with 279.0 total points.
Cupid averaged 1.50 blocks/set to go with 1.38 kills/set while hitting .429 in Coppin's wins last week. A sophomore from Supply, N.C., Cupid recorded seven kills, including the match-winner, to go with a career-high nine blocks in the win at Howard. Cupid then hit a perfect four kills on four swings to go with three blocks in the sweep over Norfolk State.
For the season, Cupid ranks sixth in the MEAC with a .294 hitting percentage on 102 kills, and seventh with 0.78 blocks/set. Cupid's 50 total blocks are the second most in the MEAC while leading the way with 12 solo blocks.
The Eagles (8-9, 2-0 MEAC) will host NC Central and South Carolina State on October 5-6, with both matches airing on ESPN+. The Battle of the Eagles will start at 1 o'clock on Sunday, followed by a 6 pm Monday night clash against the Bulldogs.
