Greyhounds tip over Coppin Volleyball

 

Hope Casel (Top Left) led the Lady Eagles with 16 kills in their four-set home loss to Loyola (MD) on Tuesday night. Geraldyn Palacios (Bottom) accounted for nearly half of the Lady Eagles' 13 blocks on the night. Picture by Keith Henry

By Keith Henry

Coppin State came back from a good road trip in Greensboro where they knocked off North Carolina A&T in five, lost a heartbreaker in five at UNC-Greensboro and defeated Bethune-Cookman in four. It gave the Lady Eagles great momentum coming into Tuesday evening’s tilt with the Loyola Greyhounds, who swept Duquesne, gave a very good West Virginia and #21 ranked Penn State squad fits before falling to those teams this past weekend.

However, the Lady Eagles started strong, winning the first set before the Greyhounds took over on their way to a 3-1 (17-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-17) victory over Coppin in their 2022 home debut at the Physical Education Complex. 

The match was about adjustments and Loyola (MD) (2-2) made all the right ones late in the proceedings.

Coppin head coach Tim Walsh said about the first set, “That’s our thing. We start really well. So we know how to do that.”

The Greyhounds started the second game off strong and led 9-4 before the Lady Eagles’ rally nearly stole game two. They knocked off a few game points and pushed within 24-23 before Lauren Link, who punished Coppin State (2-2) all evening with a match high 22 kills, put one down to end the game and tie the match at 1. 

Coach Walsh said about the Greyhounds, “We knew Loyola was a really good team. They took a set from Penn State who is #21 in the nation. So if you can compete with them, you’re in a good place. So it’s not the outcome we wanted, but we’re going to learn & grow from it.”

The Lady Eagles out-blocked the Greyhounds 13-7 in the match. That stat determined a lot early. But as the match went on, Loyola (MD) adjusted to the tip. The Greyhounds’ tip game exposed Coppin in the middle repeatedly in sets three and four, keeping the Lady Eagles off kilter most of the match. “We weren’t picking up tips at all. That’s something we’re definitely going to have to focus on. We have to be a better team defensively,” said Coach Walsh. 

For the Lady Eagles, Miajavon Coleman recorded another double-double with 14 kills and 15 digs in the match. That marked her 4^th double-double in as many matches. Andrea Tsvetanova followed up with her 3^rd double-double in four matches with 40 assists and 14 digs. 

Hope Casel led all Lady Eagles with 16 kills on the evening. Casel has improved herself so far this season. Walsh stated about her after the match, “(Hope) has a big role to step in and play. She has done a good job. She needs to become more confident I think. But she is loving it, swinging hard, learning different shots. She is going to continue to get better as the season goes on. That’s exciting for us.” 

The challenges for the Lady Eagles keep on coming. Because this Friday & Saturday, they take a trip to Blacksburg, Virginia for the Virginia Tech Invitational to take on Virginia Tech, Old Dominion and Marist.