NORFOLK, Va. – Coppin State's
Eva Rovello has been named the MEAC Volleyball Player of the Week while
Kayden Cupid earned Defensive Player of the Week honors, it was announced by the league office on Monday afternoon. This is the first time that Rovello has earned Player of the Week accolades after a pair of Setter of the Week awards earlier this season while Cupid is now a two-time recipient of her award.
A junior setter from France, Rovello was named the Most Valuable Player of UConn's For The White & Blue Tournament last weekend, leading the Eagles to a 4-0 record for the week. For the week, Rovello averaged 10.07 assists, 2.60 digs and 0.87 blocks while adding 20 kills on .422 hitting and orchestrating the attack to a .267 hitting percentage.
Rovello opened the week with a double-double 26 assists and 14 digs in a win against the host Huskies while recording five kills without an error and five blocks. She followed up with 46 assists, two aces, eight digs and another five blocks and three kills against Rhode Island before closing the Tournament with 37 assists and seven digs to go with six kills and two more blocks against Merrimack. On the way back to Baltimore, she posted her league-leading seventh double-double with 42 assists and ten digs to go with six more kills at New Haven.
For the season, Rovello leads the league with 9.11 assists while ranking among the leaders with 2.27 digs/set. She's added 51 kills on a whopping .409 hitting percentage and ranks second on the Eagles with 15 aces and 39 blocks. Rovello's 501 assists are the third-most in the nation as Coppin leads the MEAC with a .217 hitting percentage.
Cupid was a force on both ends of the floor, but stood out especially on defense averaging 2.00 blocks/set while tallying 30 blocks which was the most in the Nation last week. A junior middle hitter from Supply, N.C., Cupid earned All-Tournament Team honors, adding 34 kills (2.27/set) on .517 hitting.
In the win over UConn, Cupid put up eight kills on nine swings to hit .778 while matching a career-high with ten blocks. Cupid followed up with 11 kills and seven blocks while hitting .476 against Rhode Island before going for four kills and three blocks in a sweep of Merrimack. To cap off the week, Cupid posted a double-double 11 kills and ten blocks while hitting .474 in a win at New Haven.
Cupid currently leads the Nation with 72 total blocks while ranking 15
th with a league-high 1.53 blocks/set. She also ranks second in the MEAC with a .361 hitting percentage while putting up 87 kills (1.85/set).
While not earning a MEAC Weekly award,
Cherisse Atilano picked up All-Tournament Team honors with 33 kills (3.30/set) on .253 hitting to go with 18 digs (1.80/set). A sophomore from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, Atilano recorded 12 kills and six digs to go with an ace at UConn before posting a match and season-high 15 kills on .281 hitting and nine digs in a sweep of Merrimack.
Winners of seven-straight matches, Coppin (8-5) opens MEAC play at Howard (Sept. 24) and Norfolk State (Sept. 27) before its home opener against Loyola Maryland on Tuesday, September 29 at 6 pm. All three matches will air on the MEAC Network.
