ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy (1-3) and Coppin State (1-3) volleyball teams battled each other for nearly two and one-half hours as if it was a late-season match that impacted playoff positioning Friday night at the Wesley A. Brown Field House in Annapolis in the home opener for the Mids on just the eighth day of the 2026 season. The Mids outlasted the Eagles in four sets, 25-22, 21-25, 25-22, 25-23, in a match featuring 33 ties and 14 lead changes and Navy narrowly outscoring Coppin State in total points by a 97-92 count.
The match concluded day one of the 15th edition of the Kristen Dickmann Invitational. The crowd included numerous members of the Dickmann family as the program paid tribute to Kristen prior to the start of the match.
"Kristen Dickmann is always in our hearts, but tonight is an extra special night," said Navy head coach
Paco Labrador. "We played with a joy that reflects the way Kristen lived her life.
"We looked a lot more like the Navy volleyball team I know we can be. We have been emphasizing balance in our offensive distribution, influential blocking and being relentless. Our stats reflect those things."
Set One
Coppin State, which has won three Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular season titles (2022, 2023, 2025) and two MEAC Tournament crowns (2023, 2025) over the last four seasons, quickly jumped out to 4-1, 8-2 and 12-7 leads. Navy started to reel in the Eagles and drew to within two points at 13-11, only to fall behind by five points at 18-13.
An attack error by Coppin State started an 8-0 run by the Mids that flipped the score and gave them a 21-18 lead. The Eagles answered and quickly tied the frame at 22-22. A service error gave the Mids both a 23-22 lead and the serve.
Farrah Eike and
Grace Burgoyne combined for a block that gave Navy a 24-22 lead and the chance to serve for the set. A Burgoyne kill gave the set to the Mids.
Set Two
The second set was close throughout. Coppin State used a 4-0 run to take a 22-17 lead, which was enough for the Eagles to tie the match at one set each.
Set Three
There were a combined 12 ties and four lead changes over the course of the first two sets. Set three featured 10 ties and five lead changes.
The score would be tied at 13, 14, 17 and 18. Coppin State sored back-to-back points to take a 20-18 lead only to see Navy go on a 5-0 spurt to take a 23-20 advantage. Back came the Eagles with a pair of kills and the Navy lead had been dwindled to 23-22, which resulted in a timeout being called by Labrador. Eike dropped in a kill after the break to make it set point, then she closed the frame with an ace.
Set Four
What would prove to be the final set was very similar to set three as this stanza featured 11 ties and five lead changes.
The Mids took a few two-point leads late in the set at 17-15 and 19-17, but the Eagles scored the ensuing four points to take a 21-19 cushion. A kill by
Caroline Buffum, a kill by
Ellen Gundlach and a Coppin State attack error gave the Mids a 22-21 lead. The Eagles tied the score on a kill, then
Hailey Jacobus broke it with a kill of her own. The 23-22 Navy lead resulted in a Coppin State timeout being called.
Eike tallied a kill to give the Mids the chance to serve for the match with a 24-22 lead. The second Coppin State stoppage was called, and the break worked for the visitors as staved off one point against it with a kill. Now it was Labrador's turn to call timeout. Coppin State committed a service error on the next point to end an exhausting match with the effort by the players on both teams being one that paid worthy tribute to Kristen Dickmann.
Statistical Summary
It takes looking at every statistical line across the box score to figure out how Navy won the match. Coppin State had 12 more kills (61-59) and 16 more assists (58-42) than Navy. The teams hit for a nearly identical percentage as the Eagles posted a mark of .231 and the Mids hit .230. Coppin State also held slight leads in both aces (8-6) and digs (63-56).
From there, Navy held an 11-7 lead in blocks and committed only six service errors to 13 for Coppin State.
Individually, Eike just missed a double-double with 15 kills and 9 digs and also added 5 blocks. Gundlach and Buffum each knocked down 9 kills, Burgoyne registered 8 blocks and Jacobus finished with 7 kills, 10 digs and 3 aces. Setter
Isa Boyd, who wears Dickmann's No. 6 uniform, handed out 23 assists.
Up Next
Navy plays host to Penn Saturday at 4 p.m. and Stony Brook Sunday at 3 p.m.
