NORFOLK, Va. – Led by Miajavon Coleman's big performance, Coppin State earned a 3-0 win over the Norfolk State volleyball team on Friday night in both teams' MEAC opener at Gill Gymnasium.
Coleman tallied 16 kills and hit .536 as the Eagles won 25-20, 25-18 and 25-23. The Spartans nearly forced a fourth set, but CSU scored eight straight near the end of the third to secure the win.
On the other side, junior
Anna Rupertova led the way for the Spartans (1-10, 0-1 MEAC), totaling nine kills and seven digs while hitting .292. As a team, NSU hit .155. Junior
Bojana Bolozan added six kills and three blocks for the Spartans.
CSU (5-14, 1-0 MEAC) had its best overall performance in the first set, hitting .600 on the way to a .276 attack percentage for the night. The Eagles jumped out to the early four-point lead to force the Spartans to play catch up. They eventually did, scoring three straight to tie the opening set at 16-16. The Eagles, however, scored six straight a short time later to help surge ahead for good.
They also did the same in the third set. Down 22-16, Coppin State scored six in a row to go ahead by two. After a kill by Rupertova made it 24-23, Coleman landed one last kill to end the match.
Rupertova had four kills in the third set, which began with NSU up 9-5. Kills from freshman
Brenna Ankrum and sophomore
Taylor Eichelberger pushed the score to 15-10, and Bolozan started a 4-0 run with a pair of kills to extend the lead to 20-14. The teams traded points before the Eagles started their final push.
The Spartans also had the early lead in the second set, but it was short lived after the Eagles scored seven of eight points for a four-point advantage. Kills by three different players over a four-serve span helped the Spartans cut the deficit to one, 13-12, but Coppin State started an 8-2 run for a seven-point edge.
For the Eagles, Brianna Lang added 30 assists and 10 digs for the double-double.
The Spartans will host Morgan State on Sunday at 3 p.m. to close out the opening weekend of conference play.
