MEAC Volleyball Recap - Sept. 26 and Sept. 28

Volleyball | 9/28/2025 9:41:45 PM

Sunday, September 28
Coppin State 3, Norfolk State 0
Howard 3, Morgan State 2
Delaware State 3, S.C. State 1
Maryland E. Shore 3, North Carolina Central 2

Coppin State def. Norfolk State, 3-0 BOX SCORE | RECAP
BALTIMORE – Coppin State's volleyball team hit a season-high .402 in a 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-13) MEAC victory over Norfolk State on Sunday afternoon at PEC Arena. The Eagles improved to 8-9 overall and 2-0 in league play while the Spartans fell to 1-14 on the year, and 0-2 in the MEAC.

Recording 45 kills, Coppin made just ten attacking errors on 87 attempts to hit .402, its best mark in a match since a 3-0 win at Morgan State on November 15, 2024, when it hit .464.

TaKenya Stafford led all players with 15 kills and made just one error on 28 attempts to hit .500 on the day. A redshirt senior from Los Angeles, Calif., Stafford added seven digs, a block and an ace for 16.5 total points.

Howard def. Morgan State, 3-2 BOX SCORE | RECAP
WASHINGTON - Howard volleyball ended the weekend on a high note with a 3-2 comeback win (19-25, 18-25, 25-23, 25-19, 15-12) over Morgan State Sunday afternoon in Burr Gymnasium. The feat moves Howard to a 4-8,1-1 MEAC overall record while the Bars fall 7-5, 1-1 MEAC.

Rya McKinnon led with a game-high 27 kills while Alexys James marked her first career triple-double with a team-leading 29 assists, 14 kills, and 10 digs. HU delivered a strong offensive performance with 63 kills and a hitting percentage of .255, while Morgan State recorded 58 kills and a slightly higher hitting percentage of .273. Defensively, Howard made a significant impact with 12 total blocks, featuring key contributions from Rya McKinnon, Zenia Jethroe, and Kaitlynn Robinson.

Delaware State def. S.C. State, 3-1 BOX SCORE | RECAP
ORANGEBURG, SC -The Delaware State volleyball team defeated the South Carolina State Lady Bulldogs in four sets (25-19, 19-25, 25-11, 25-13) Sunday on the road at Dukes Gymnasium. The win boosted the Hornets' record to 5-11 overall and 1-1 in MEAC play.

The Hornet’s attack was paced by Gerren Tomlin, who finished with 21 kills on the day while accumulating a hitting percentage of .515, and by Emma Patmon, who had 10. Aaliyah Mitchell also pitched in with seven in the contest. Defensively, had two players reach double figures in digs as Mitchell had 12 and Landyn Langham had 11.

Maryland E. Shore def. N.C. Central, 3-2 BOX SCORE | RECAP
DURHAM, N.C. - UMES and NCCU played a tightly-contested opening frame. With the Hawks leading 18-16, the Maroon and Grey closed the set on a 7-2 scoring run. UMES utilized a kill and a block from Anjola Omolewa, a kill and two service aces for Karielys Melendez, and a kill from Malaysia Shaw during the run. The Hawks scored the final five points en route to a 25-18 win in set one.
In the fifth frame, a service ace from Kate-Linh Eden and a solo block from Montes helped UMES build a 5-0 lead, forcing a timeout from NCCU. Kills from Montes, Shaw, and Melendez then helped the Hawks build their lead to 10-3, forcing another timeout from the Eagles. Despite a comeback attempt by NCCU, one final kill by Hutchins clinched a 15-9 victory for UMES in set five.

Friday, September 26
North Carolina Central 3, Delaware State 2
Morgan State 3, Norfolk State 1
Maryland E. Shore 3, S.C. State 0
Coppin State 3, Howard 2

North Carolina Central def. Delaware State 3-2 BOX SCORE | RECAP
DURHAM, N.C. – North Carolina Central started the MEAC volleyball season with a bang, edging defending conference champion Delaware State 3-2 (19-25, 25-21, 25-18, 24-26, 19-17) at McDougald-McLendon Arena on Friday night.

The thrilling five-set match was tied 17-17 in the fifth set but the Eagles made clutch plays to pull out the victory. Kamren Harper's kill off an assist from Manuela Cripa Nasser put the Eagles ahead 18-17, setting the stage for Leanna Beaty's service ace for the match winner. Her ace touched off an Eagles' celebration on the court.

Morgan State def. Norfolk State, 3-1 BOX SCORE | RECAP
BALTIMORE, Md. - The Morgan State volleyball team began the 2025 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) campaign with a 3-1 (25-14, 25-19, 14-25, 25-21) victory over visiting Norfolk State on Friday evening at Hill Field House. The win was the Bears' first MEAC season opening win in four years, while ending a season-long five-match losing skid, as well as a two-match losing streak to the Spartans. Morgan State improved to 4-8 on the season, while Norfolk State fell to 1-13.

Daniela Ferreira led three Morgan State players in double figures in kills with 15, while Hanna Nemeth and Jada Williams added 11 and 10, respectively. Mikaela Esparza had 10 digs and Isabella Brown finished with a match-high 26 assists.

Maryland E. Shore def. S.C. State, 3-0 BOX SCORE | RECAP
ORANGEBURG, S.C. - UMES opened the match by scoring 14 of the first 24 points to take a four-point advantage. Fueled by a pair of kills from Lilliana Montes, the Hawks doubled the lead with a 4-0 run. Although South Carolina State scored six of the next eight points to close the gap to four, UMES held on to win the opening frame 25-20.

UMES and South Carolina State began the third set in a close match. Tied 11-11, UMES scored on a kill by Jayda Hutchins and benefited off of two Bulldog attack errors to go on a 3-0 run. Leading 16-15 later in the set, the Hawks generated a 6-0 scoring run, powered by a kill from Malaysia Shaw and back-to-back service aces from Karielys Melendez. One last kill by Montes iced both the third set and a straight sets victory for UMES.

Coppin State def. Howard, 3-2 BOX SCORE | RECAP
WASHINGTON, D.C. – TaKenya Stafford threw down a season-high 25 kills, leading Coppin State's volleyball team to a thrilling 3-2 (21-25, 27-25, 25-18, 18-25, 15-13) victory at Howard University on Friday night at Burr Gymnasium. The Eagles improved to 7-9 on the year while the Bison fell to 6-5 overall in the MEAC opener for both teams.

A redshirt senior from Los Angeles, Calif., Stafford led all players with 25 kills on .220 hitting to go with 11 digs, four blocks and an ace. In the process, Stafford became the fifth Eagles player to record 1,000 kills at the school and now has 1,010 kills with the Navy & Gold.

Cherisse Atilano finished a kill shy of a double-double, recording nine kills with 12 digs to go with a pair of aces. Kayden Cupid and Ivanna Luna added seven kills apiece while combining to hit .333. Cupid led the Eagles with nine total blocks.