Volleyball | 11/23/2024 2:00:52 AM

DOVER, Del., Nov. 22, 2024 - The No. 2 seeded Eagles of Coppin State defeated the No. 7 Bears of Morgan State in a five-set thriller on Friday evening in the quarterfinals of the 2024 MEAC Volleyball Tournament. CSU won 22-25, 25-16, 30-28, 19-25, 15-9 over MSU to earn a spot in Saturday night's semifinal match. 

BOX SCORE

TaKenya Stafford led Coppin State with 16 kills and 12 digs for a double-double. Deviana Walker and Gabriela Zuquelo both contributed 11 kills apiece, while Zuquelo added 16 digs. Kahea Carvalho and Azul Pilahg combined for 53 assists. 

Morgan State was led by Daniela Ferreira and Madison Grace with 18 kills each. Setter Trinity Carruthers recorded 43 assists, while Hannah Chappelle led the defense with 39 digs. Mikaela Esparza tallied 20 digs while Addison Metts dug up 15 balls and Ferreira 10. 

The Eagles opened the match taking an early 9-3 run capped by four consecutive points. The Bears fought back following an 11-2 rally to take a three-point. 14-11 lead. Coppin State came back to tie the score at 15 all and then trailed by one, 19-18, after each team traded four and three-point runs, respectively. The scored tied once more at 22 all before Morgan State scored three in a row to win the opening game 25-22.

Coppin State came out in set two again taking an early lead, 7-4. The Eagles quickly expanded their lead to seven points, 16-9, following a 9-5 run. CSU maintained a six-point lead throughout the rest of the set winning 25-16 and evening the game score at one set each. 

The Eagles carried the momentum from set two into the third opening on an 8-3 run. The Bears clawed back within one point, 15-14, following an 11-7 run. The teams tied the score eight times late in the set as the final score pushed out to 30-28 in favor of Coppin State who took a 2-1 match lead. 

The fourth set was back and forth through the first 11 points for each team. The Bears went on an 8-1 rally opening up an 18-12 lead. The Eagles climbed within three points, 19-16, but Morgan State dug deep to close out the set on a 6-3 run winning 25-19 and evening the match score at two sets each. 

Coppin State came out of the gate opening up a 5-1 lead early in the final set. Morgan State climbed within one, trailing 7-6, but CSU responded by extending the lead to five points. 11-5. MSU won three of the next five serves, but the Eagles held strong closing the match on three consecutive points to win 15-9 and 3-2 in the match.

Coppin State advances to the semifinal match, where they will face the winner of the No. 3 Delaware State versus No. 6 North Carolina Central match.