DANBURY, Conn. – After a historic season, Coppin State volleyball head coach Tim Walsh has been named the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Volleyball Coach of the Year, it was announced by the organization on Monday afternoon.
 
Additionally, TaKenya Stafford and Andrea Tsvetanova earned Second Team All-ECAC recognition.
 
Walsh led the Eagles to their first-ever MEAC Championship and NCAA Tournament, recording a 27-5 overall record while going 13-1 in league play and sweeping all three matches in the conference tournament.  Walsh was named MEAC Coach of the Year for the third time and second-straight season, helping Coppin to its third regular season championship in the last four seasons.
 
Coppin set program records this season for overall wins (27), conference victories (13), non-conference wins (11), longest winning streak (ten), hitting percentage (.221) and kills per set (12.63). New single-match records were broken for kills in a three-set match (53 vs. McNeese State), digs (101 at N.C. Central) and points (85.0 vs. Delaware State). Laila Ibrahim also set a single-match record by hitting .923 with 12 kills on 13 swings in a sweep at Penn.
 
This season also marked the first time that Coppin won a set from a ranked opponent, taking a set at Auburn on August 25 at the Tigers' War Eagle Invitational.
 
At the conclusion of the regular season, six Eagles were named to All-MEAC teams, including First Teamers Geraldyn Palacios, Ashley Roman, TaKenya Stafford and Andrea Tsvetanova.  Laila Ibrahim earned Second Team accolades after breaking the CSU single-season record for blocks and Coco Figueroa earned MEAC All-Rookie Team honors. 
 
Roman earned her fourth consecutive Defensive Player of the Year award while Tsvetanova was recognized as MEAC Setter of the Year after sharing the award the year prior. Tsvetanova also led the Nation in service aces per set for the second-straight season.
 
After seven seasons at Coppin, Walsh is the winningest coach in program-history, going 106-97 overall and 61-28 in the MEAC. Thirty players have earned All-MEAC and All-Rookie Team honors and ten have received MEAC Major Awards. The program has also seen its first-ever All-Region (Miajavon Coleman & Ashley Roman) and All-America performers (Miajavon Coleman & Andrea Tsvetanova).
 
Over the last five seasons, the Eagles have gone 90-51 overall and 51-16 in league play.
 
Stafford was named the Most Outstanding Player of the MEAC Tournament after earning First Team All-Conference honors following the regular season.  A sophomore from Los Angeles, Calif., Stafford led Coppin with 361 kills (3.25/set) while hitting .210 and adding 294 digs (2.65/set). Stafford was credited with 39 blocks, 16 aces and 16 assists and was the only player in the MEAC ranked in both kills and digs.
 
She made CSU history when she posted career-highs of 27 kills and 23 digs in a 5-set victory at NC Central, becoming just the second Eagles player to record 20 kills and 20 digs in the same match.
 
A redshirt senior from Sofia, Bulgaria, Tsvetanova took home MEAC Setter of the Year honors after sharing the award last season, and also received First Team All-Conference accolades for the second-straight season. Tsvetanova led the league with 986 assists (8.96/set) and was top nationally for the second-straight season in service aces/set (0.65) while ranking second in total aces (72).  She also added 46 kills, 216 digs (1.96/set) and 22 blocks.
 
In just three seasons, Tsvetanova shattered the CSU all-time record for service aces (237) and service aces/set (0.69) both of which lead all active NCAA Division I players. Tsvetanova concluded her collegiate career ranked second in school history with 3,014 assists and seventh with 745 digs while adding 124 kills and 92 blocks.
 
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