NSU Volleyball (5-7) fell to the Coppin State Eagles (15-3) in straight sets on October 6 at Gills Gymnasium. This was the Spartans’ Breast Cancer Awareness game and their first loss of the conference.
“I’m a breast cancer survivor and I always take this game seriously and make sure that we have the game so I can represent myself and my mom who passed of breast cancer, so it’s a pretty big day for me,” said NSU Volleyball Head Coach, Kathy Bullock.
The first set started off slow with serving errors back-to-back on both teams. The Spartans got the first point of the set from a kill by middle blocker Grace Smith, assisted by setter Sydney McCree.
The teams stayed close in score and the Spartans maintained the lead until the Eagles tied from a kill by middle blocker Geraldyn Palacios, then took the lead from an attacking error on the Spartans.
The Eagles kept the lead the rest of the set, going on a 8-0 run making the score 14-23. The Spartans came up 19-23 with errors on the Eagles, a kill by middle blocker Briana Ellis, and a block by outside hitter Shonte Seale. The Eagles ended the set 19-25 with a kill by outside hitter TaKenya Stafford, assisted by setter Andrea Tsvetanova.
“The girls are going to lock in more because when someone whoops your behind, you lock in a little more in practice and I think that’s going to help them move forward,” said Coach Bullock.
The Eagles got the first point of the second set from a kill by Stafford. The Spartans got their first point of the set soon after from a service error on the Eagles.
The teams tied 4 times in the beginning, but the Eagles spaced the score out going on a 6-0 run including three kills by Stafford, a service ace by Palacios, and two errors on the Spartans, and later going on a 4-0 run.
The Spartans ended the run with a kill by outside hitter Alexa Harris and middle blocker Adlene Jideofor. The Eagles ended the set 15-25 with a kill by Stafford.
The third set started with the Eagles scoring 2-0 from an attacking error on the Spartans and a kill by Palacios. The Spartans got their first point of the set from a kill by Seale.
The Eagles went on three 3-0 runs and the Spartans went on two 3-0 runs of their own. The Spartans fought hard in the end, but the Eagles won the set and the game 22-25 with a kill by Stafford.
“The crowd was amazing, and the atmosphere was amazing. I’m not concerned about this one, we just have to move forward from here,” said Coach Bullock.
Seale had 9 kills and 12 digs, Harris had 3 kills and 4 blocks, and McCree had 22 assists and 6 digs.
Stafford had 14 kills, 7 digs, and 3 blocks; Tsvetanova had 37 assists, 2 aces, and 1 block; and setter Andrea Serrano had 11 digs.
The Spartans next game is against the Howard University Bison (7-9) on October 13 in Burr Gymnasium for the Bisons Senior Night.
Spartan Echo 