Coppin State's Yolanda Reid and Christina Epps blocked Morgan State outside hitter Erin Cox during the Lady Eagles' historic 3-1 victory over the Lady Bears at Hill Field House on Halloween night.by Keith Henry
When asked about Morgan State’s recent dominance over Coppin State, MSU middle hitter Dominique Bozier said that they’ve made it a tradition over the years that they never lose to CSU.
For 20 years and 45 consecutive matches, Morgan State has defeated and most times, humiliated Coppin State Volleyball.
That is… until Halloween night at Hill Field House.
The Lady Eagles used their defense and scrappiness to march into Morgan State territory and defeat the Lady Bears 3-1 (25-19, 16-25, 25-21, 27-25) for the first time since a Morgan forfeit on September 15, 1990. Coppin also beat Morgan 3-2 in a match at American University on September 8 of that year.
According to Coppin State head volleyball coach Romonzo Beans, the scene was set for such a result. “I don’t think it was a doubt in their mind when they came in here,” said Beans. “They were calm, their warm-up was sharp and it just felt good. And I think that proves that they’re starting to mature and get right. They’re just playing good volleyball.”
At the same time, Coppin State stays alive for a spot in the MEAC Volleyball Tournament which they host on November 19-21 at the new Physical Education Center. When asked how it felt to accomplish both goals, CSU setter Haley Beechler said, “It feels really good. We really accomplished something huge and Friday night’s game (a 3-1 win over Hampton at the PEC), we ended a losing streak. 37 matches for conference and then today, we win another one against Morgan. It feels really awesome to be a part of that.”
CSU middle blocker Christina Epps said about this past weekend, “(Earlier in the week)Our coach really got into us. We didn’t want to give up on them, ourselves. This was the season that we felt like we can do something. We could make it and actually have a good chance of competing in the MEACs.”
Coppin State (5-19, 2-6 MEAC) knew that they had to make some serious adjustments on the defensive side of the ball because MSU outside hitter Erin Cox hurt the Lady Eagles with 19 kills in their last meeting at the PEC a couple of weeks ago. This time around, CSU targeted Cox, limiting her to 12 kills and a -.048 hitting percentage. “Yolanda (Reid) took Erin out of her game,” said Beans. “Took her out. It’s a long time coming. (Morgan State) had some good hits out there. I always tell them that this is Division 1 volleyball. If they’re not putting the ball down, they wouldn’t be here. But it’s what they did after that. They were tenacious out there today.”
Reid added, “Our defense picked up whatever Erin hit. We didn’t always do that. I tried to block it so our defense didn’t have to do that much work. When I blocked her four times in a row, they subbed somebody out and then they subbed her back in and I just had fun with her.”
Coppin State also had to defend the tipping game Morgan frequently used to beat them earlier in the season. CSU assistant coach Beth Beans stated, “On defense, they all stepped up. We switched our game which they were able to mix around. We’re hitting hard and all of a sudden, throwing tips in here and there. When we started blocking (Morgan), then we knew they were going to start tipping, so we told the girls beware. Because when you get blocked, there’s nothing else to do. You start thinking as a hitter, ‘Oh, I don’t want to get blocked again.’ So they were in the right positions to cover up and were able to dig out the tips.”
The turning point for CSU happened when they trailed Morgan State (5-18, 3-5 MEAC) 23-21 in the fourth game. Ashley Saunders, who led everyone with 19 kills, pounded one down to the back row. Then Bozier replied with one of her team high 13 kills to give the Lady Bears two game point chances at 24-22. Then Bozier was blocked on a kill attempt by Epps with one arm. Next, Cox’s kill attempt sailed long to tie the score at 24. Then Saunders put another kill down in the back row to give Coppin their first match point at 25-24. Beechler’s serve attempt just went long to tie the score at 25. Coppin rebounded with a big kill from Epps followed by a service ace from Saunders that went off Cox’s arms to end the match.
Morgan State head coach Ramona Riley-Bozier said after the match, “Coppin did just what we said. They have a lot to play for. So did we. But I think we just felt like we were just going to roll over and play dead, thinking that (Coppin) was going to just keep making mistakes and then that’s how we’re going to win. It’s just unfortunate.We’ve had too many opportunities to pull out several matches and it’s a 20-year streak that we hadn’t lost to Coppin. At some point, I guess all good things had to come to an end. I feel for Dominique. That really hurt her. She’s taking it really hard. I know others are, but it’s her last year and it’s tough for the coaches, players. It should’ve never happened that way.”
When asked about Morgan State’s recent dominance over Coppin State, MSU middle hitter Dominique Bozier said that they’ve made it a tradition over the years that they never lose to CSU.
For 20 years and 45 consecutive matches, Morgan State has defeated and most times, humiliated Coppin State Volleyball.
That is… until Halloween night at Hill Field House.
The Lady Eagles used their defense and scrappiness to march into Morgan State territory and defeat the Lady Bears 3-1 (25-19, 16-25, 25-21, 27-25) for the first time since a Morgan forfeit on September 15, 1990. Coppin also beat Morgan 3-2 in a match at American University on September 8 of that year.
According to Coppin State head volleyball coach Romonzo Beans, the scene was set for such a result. “I don’t think it was a doubt in their mind when they came in here,” said Beans. “They were calm, their warm-up was sharp and it just felt good. And I think that proves that they’re starting to mature and get right. They’re just playing good volleyball.”
At the same time, Coppin State stays alive for a spot in the MEAC Volleyball Tournament which they host on November 19-21 at the new Physical Education Center. When asked how it felt to accomplish both goals, CSU setter Haley Beechler said, “It feels really good. We really accomplished something huge and Friday night’s game (a 3-1 win over Hampton at the PEC), we ended a losing streak. 37 matches for conference and then today, we win another one against Morgan. It feels really awesome to be a part of that.”
CSU middle blocker Christina Epps said about this past weekend, “(Earlier in the week)Our coach really got into us. We didn’t want to give up on them, ourselves. This was the season that we felt like we can do something. We could make it and actually have a good chance of competing in the MEACs.”
Coppin State (5-19, 2-6 MEAC) knew that they had to make some serious adjustments on the defensive side of the ball because MSU outside hitter Erin Cox hurt the Lady Eagles with 19 kills in their last meeting at the PEC a couple of weeks ago. This time around, CSU targeted Cox, limiting her to 12 kills and a -.048 hitting percentage. “Yolanda (Reid) took Erin out of her game,” said Beans. “Took her out. It’s a long time coming. (Morgan State) had some good hits out there. I always tell them that this is Division 1 volleyball. If they’re not putting the ball down, they wouldn’t be here. But it’s what they did after that. They were tenacious out there today.”
Reid added, “Our defense picked up whatever Erin hit. We didn’t always do that. I tried to block it so our defense didn’t have to do that much work. When I blocked her four times in a row, they subbed somebody out and then they subbed her back in and I just had fun with her.”
Coppin State also had to defend the tipping game Morgan frequently used to beat them earlier in the season. CSU assistant coach Beth Beans stated, “On defense, they all stepped up. We switched our game which they were able to mix around. We’re hitting hard and all of a sudden, throwing tips in here and there. When we started blocking (Morgan), then we knew they were going to start tipping, so we told the girls beware. Because when you get blocked, there’s nothing else to do. You start thinking as a hitter, ‘Oh, I don’t want to get blocked again.’ So they were in the right positions to cover up and were able to dig out the tips.”
The turning point for CSU happened when they trailed Morgan State (5-18, 3-5 MEAC) 23-21 in the fourth game. Ashley Saunders, who led everyone with 19 kills, pounded one down to the back row. Then Bozier replied with one of her team high 13 kills to give the Lady Bears two game point chances at 24-22. Then Bozier was blocked on a kill attempt by Epps with one arm. Next, Cox’s kill attempt sailed long to tie the score at 24. Then Saunders put another kill down in the back row to give Coppin their first match point at 25-24. Beechler’s serve attempt just went long to tie the score at 25. Coppin rebounded with a big kill from Epps followed by a service ace from Saunders that went off Cox’s arms to end the match.
Morgan State head coach Ramona Riley-Bozier said after the match, “Coppin did just what we said. They have a lot to play for. So did we. But I think we just felt like we were just going to roll over and play dead, thinking that (Coppin) was going to just keep making mistakes and then that’s how we’re going to win. It’s just unfortunate.We’ve had too many opportunities to pull out several matches and it’s a 20-year streak that we hadn’t lost to Coppin. At some point, I guess all good things had to come to an end. I feel for Dominique. That really hurt her. She’s taking it really hard. I know others are, but it’s her last year and it’s tough for the coaches, players. It should’ve never happened that way.”
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