Coppin State Volleyball Achieves History

 

Coppin State sophomore outside hitter TaKenya Stafford attempts to hit the ball past Pittsburgh blockers Torrey Stafford (4) and Emma Monks (9). Laila Ibrahim (19) Ashley Roman (yellow) and Ammarrah Williams (5) back up TaKenya. Picture by Keith Henry

By Keith Henry

The Coppin State Lady Eagles Volleyball team accomplished a major feat this season. They finished their campaign with the best record in program history at 27-5. Also, they won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament for the first time ever and advanced to the NCAA Tournament where they fell to #1 seed and Final Four participant Pittsburgh in three sets. 

To most, the 2023 season seemed like a dream until the night of November 19^th. Coppin was in familiar ground that night because it was the MEAC Championship game on the campus of Delaware State University. The Lady Eagles were appearing in their fourth MEAC Championship match in program history and have never won one previously.

In their championship match with Howard, the turning point happened in set two as Coppin trailed the Lady Bison 23-17 and the Lady Eagles head coach Tim Walsh took a timeout. Whatever went on during that timeout did the trick because Coppin outscored the Bison 9-1 to mount a come from behind 26-24 win to put them up 2-0. 

Walsh said about that point in the match, “If we had not gone on that run and Howard had come up on top, I think it would be a different situation. We probably would’ve battled to five (sets). So I was definitely grateful for that. I can’t exactly remember what was said. But I’m sure it was something like one point at a time. We got to play with confidence. Let’s execute and do what we have to do.”

Senior setter Andrea Tsvetanova added, “That set was crazy honestly. We all knew that we had to pass. It all came down to serve, pass and put up a good block.”

Sophomore outside hitter and the MEAC Most Outstanding Player TaKenya Stafford said, “I didn’t come into a timeout knowing that everybody was defeated. It felt like everybody was still in it.” 

That set turned the match around and placed momentum on the Lady Eagles’ side. Because Coppin used that bit of momentum to close it out in set three to win it all 3-0 (25-20, 26-24, 25-19) and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.

The next week, Coppin drew the top seeded Pittsburgh Panthers from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and knew they had their work cut out for them. The Lady Eagles went into that game with as much energy as they could muster. And for their first time in the Big Dance, Coppin didn’t look scared. The Lady Eagles even jumped on Pittsburgh early, storming out to a 6-2 advantage in the first set. 

Then the Panther hitting got going and they eventually took over, outscoring CSU 23-12 the rest of the way to win set one. Coppin never led again in the match as the top seeded Panthers defeated them 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-9) to officially close the books on the Lady Eagles’ successful season.

The Coppin State Volleyball program has come a long way in its 37 years in existence. At one point, Coppin was the laughing stock of the nation when they lost 129 consecutive matches from 1993-98. It was the second worst streak in the history of the NCAA at that point. Chicago State holds the record with 139 from 1993-99.

Imagine turning this whole program around starting from the lowest point in their history to the top of the mountain in the MEAC and qualifying for the NCAA Volleyball Tournament. They want to continue growing from this.

Coach Walsh realized what has taken place in this program and looks to stay on the right side of history this time around. When asked about it, Walsh stated, “We took over a program and I didn’t know some of the statistics of it like losing (129) matches in a row in the 90s. When I took this over, I said to give me a couple of years. I’ll get my recruits in here and just train. People believed in it and they worked hard. We were supported and we were going to do big things.”

With six seniors graduating this time, Walsh knows they will not be easy to replace. However, he looks to keep up the success of this program and grow even more from this experience. 

To some of the Lady Eagles, this run of success still feels like a dream. Only in this circumstance, they were fully awake. Tsvetanova said, “Honestly, it feels surreal. We all can’t believe that. For some of my teammates and I, it feels like we just played a game and we still have to work. But it’s real. We won the championship and it feels great.”