ORANGEBURG, S.C. – Coco Figueroa went over the 1,500-dig mark to lead the Coppin State volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-18) win at South Carolina State on Friday night at Dukes Gymnasium.  With the victory, the Eagles (12-5, 3-0 MEAC) have now won 11-straight matches which is a new school-record, breaking the previous mark of ten which has been set three times over the last five years.
 
Needing just 16 digs to reach the milestone, Figueroa was credited with a match-high 18 digs and now has 1,502 digs in her career.  A senior from Bayamon, Puerto Rico, Figueroa is third in CSU history in the category, seventh in MEAC history and ninth among active NCAA Division I players. 
 
Three of the seven players in the MEAC have been Coppin State players, including all-time leader Ashley Roman ('23) and Gabrielle Otero ('14) who stands fourth with 1,669 digs.
 
Figueroa was not the only standout as Kayden Cupid and Deviana Walker had 11 kills apiece, followed by Cherisse Atilano with eight, Ivanna Luna with seven and McKenzie Parks with four.  Many of those kills were set by Eva Rovello who posted 33 assists to go with three aces, two kills and five digs as the Eagles outhit South Carolina State, .376 to .095.
 
At the net, Parks led the defense with a pair of blocks while Kendall Minta finished with one.
 
Coppin began to pull away in the opening set with a 7-1 run to take a 9-3 lead and led by as many as 24-13 following another 7-2 stretch. Following three-straight Bulldogs points, Isabella Ortiz put the set away with a kill.
 
The hosts scored the first two points of the second set and held an 8-6 lead before three-straight kills from Parks gave the Eagles the advantage. Coppin never looked back during the frame and took a 2-0 lead after two SC State errors and a kill from Andrea Cintron.
 
CSU scored seven of the first eight points of the third before getting somewhat lackadaisical late in the frame. Clinging to a 21-17 lead, Walker recorded a pair of kills before Rovello clinched the match with an ace.
 
Next for the Eagles is a trip to NC Central at 1 pm on Sunday, October 4.  No live stream will be available for the Battle of the Eagles.