BALTIMORE, Md. — Sophomore Estfania Louis ended a narrow 3-2 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) victory in favor of the visiting North Carolina Central University volleyball team with her career-high 10th kill of the match to knock off Coppin State University Sunday afternoon.
 
NCCU (3-14 Overall, 2-2 MEAC) won the battle of the two Eagle programs in a rollercoaster contest that fans witnessed set scores of 13-25, 25-9, 22-25, 26-24 and 15-13. CSU dropped to 6-12 and 2-2.
 
NC Central will conclude its five-game MEAC road swing with a pair of matches in the Sunshine State next weekend, visiting Florida A&M University on Friday at 6 p.m. and Bethune-Cookman University on Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
NC CENTRAL HIGHLIGHTS & STATS:
 
The Lady Eagles had a strong attacking performance, hitting .310 for the match. Sophomore Arlanda Faulkner led NCCU with 13 kills and sophomore Christine Alcox followed closely behind with 12 spikes. Louis matched her career-high output with 10 kills and junior McKayla Young ripped a season-best nine kills. Sophomore Ammaarah Williams chipped in seven kills.
 
Williams and sophomore Isis Mitchell both tallied four aces. Williams also had a team-best five block assists.
 
Sophomore setter Celene Morris recorded another double-double with 46 assists and 13 digs. Junior libero Yomaries Villegas topped NCCU's defenders with 14 digs.
 
COPPIN STATE HIGHLIGHTS & STATS:
 
Sophomore setter Brianna Lang topped CSU with 51 assists and a staggering nine aces. Lang primarily setup classmates Sydney Hicks and Miajavon Coleman as they had 18 and 15 kills, respectively.
 
SET-BY-SET:
 
1ST: Coppin State jumped out to an 8-0 lead with Lang serving up five aces during the opening surge. CSU coasted from that point to take the first set by 12 points.
 
2ND: NCCU responded in a similar fashion to start the second set. The maroon and gray rushed out to an 8-1 advantage, featuring two aces by Mitchell. NC Central never let off the throttle and won by 16 points to level the match. NCCU had 15 kills on 21 attempts without an error for a sizzling .714 hitting percentage.
 
3RD: The visitors continued to look strong to begin the third set, rushing out to an 11-6 cushion. Coppin State rallied with a 7-2 run to level the score at 13-all. The game remained close and was still tied at 22-22 before the hosts won the final three points, capped by a pair of kills by Lang to regain the lead.
 
4TH: Coppin State served for the match at 24-23, but a kill by Alcox kept NCCU alive. Mitchell then won the set for NC Central and extended the match to a decisive fifth set. An ace by Mitchell put NCCU up 25-24 and then she finished off the frame with a kill.
 
5TH: NCCU flew out to a 5-1 lead after consecutive kills by Young. Coppin State rallied to tie it at 7-all, but an error allowed the visitors to regain the lead, 8-7, as the two teams switched sides of the court. Freshman Paola Caten launched two aces as CSU responded again to pull ahead 11-9. Faulkner had NCCU's response with two aces to even the score once again at 12-12. Young put the maroon and gray ahead for good with a kill and a Coppin State error setup match point that Louis delivered on with her 10th kill.