Women's Volleyball | 7/16/2014 11:16:00 AM

Montclair, NJ – Coming off one of its best seasons in recent years, the Montclair State volleyball team has higher expectations for 2014 but will have to do it against a very challenging schedule.

Montclair, which finished 19-12 last season and advanced to the semifinals of the NJAC Tournament for the first time since 2009, begins the first of its 32-match schedule on Friday, August 29 at Bear Invitational at the United States Coast Guard Academy.  MSU will face Colby-Sawyer and the host Bears on Friday before closing out on Saturday with a match versus Suffolk University.

The opening weekend is the beginning of a 19-match month of September for the Red Hawks, who play their home opener a week later with three matches on Saturday, September 6 against John Jay, Cedar Crest and the United States Merchant Marine Academy. After a home match with Baruch on September 9, Montclair heads to Purchase College for the Panther Invitational on September 13-14.

MSU, which finished fourth in the NJAC in 2013, begins its conference slate with two difficult challenges. The Red Hawks open against six-time defending conference champion Richard Stockton on the road on September 16 and host Rowan on September 23. The Ospreys and Profs finished 1-2 in the NJAC last season with Stockton defeating Rowan 3-1 to claim its sixth consecutive conference crown.

Montclair State should get further tested on the last weekend of month when it goes to Williamsport, PA for the Lycoming Classic where it will meet the host team as well as St. Mary's College of Maryland on September 26-27. The grueling opening month of matches closes with an NJAC contest at Ramapo on September 30.

The month of October will lighten up for the Red Hawks in terms of quantity of matches, but the level of quality will remain high. Montclair State begins the month with a home match against Hunter College on the 2nd as the two split a pair of matches in 2013. Later on MSU will play three matches over a seven-day span that could have a huge impact on their conference standing. Montclair hosts Rutgers-Newark at home on October 14 and two days later travels to Union, NJ to face Kean before wrapping up its three-game slate at home versus local rival William Paterson on October 23.

Montclair's regular season comes to a close with an appearance in the New York Regional Challenge at Stevens on October 31-November 1.  The Red Hawks will face both University of Rochester and RIT on Halloween before taking on Nazareth and host Stevens in Saturday action.

The NJAC Tournament is set to begin on Tuesday, November 4 with semifinal action scheduled for Thursday, November 6 and the championship game on Saturday, November 8. The winner of the NJAC Tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship.