New York, NY (9/6/07) – Freshman DEVON JOHNSTON collected four of her 11 kills during a 14-1 run in the third game as Montclair State swept John Jay College on Thursday evening.
Sophomore KARA BURNHAM had 10 kills as the Red Hawks posted game victories of 30-11, 30-21 and 30-25 to improve to 2-3. Sophomore ANNA CHESNAKOVA added nine kills and three total blocks as Montclair defeated the Bloodhounds (0-3) for the fourth straight season. Setter RAISA SILVA had 36 assists and four digs.
Jennifer Gonzalez knocked a team-high seven kills in the match to go along with five service aces, while Sara Altamirano had five kills, five digs, and three solo blocks for John Jay. Anjanette Perez chipped in with 14 assists and six digs.
In the first game, the Red Hawks jumped out to a 9-0 lead as Johnston recorded three service aces. A kill by KAREN MARTIN made the score made the scored 10-1 and back-to-back kills from Burnham gave MSU it largest lead of the game at 16-2. Johnston and Chesnakova combined for four kills as the lead increased to 21-6 and the Red Hawks closed out the first game as Burnham delivered her fourth kill of the game.
Game two saw the Red Hawks trail 10-8 before ripping off the next 11 points to take control. With Burnham serving all 11 points, SARA SIRAG tied the match a 10-10 and following two errors by John Jay, a service ace extended MSU's lead to 13-10. Silva to Chesnakova for a kill put Montclair up 16-10 before Sirag closed out the run with a kill as Montclair State led 19-10. John Jay would get no closer than five (21-16) the rest of the way and Montclair took the 2-0 lead in the match as Chesnakova finished off a Silva assist attempt.
The third game became a role reversal of sorts as the Bloodhounds exploded out of the gate and scored 11 of the game's first 13 points. Down 11-2, Montclair hung around and slowly chipped away at the lead as a kill from Chesnakova brought Montclair within 16-8. The Bloodhounds would hold on to the lead and took a 24-16 advantage on Amanda Garcia's kill. But Montclair began its match-ending run with kills from Chesnakova and Johnston and an ace from Burnham as MSU closed the game to 24-20. Two attack errors by John Jay and a kill by Johnston made it a one-point match and Montclair tied the game at 24-24 as John Jay committed a ball-handling error.
After the game was knotted up at 25-all, Johnston put MSU in front for good with a kill and then set up Adrienne Moe. Following two more Bloodhound errors, Johnston ended the match with her final kill.
The Red Hawks had a solid hitting match posting a .291 percentage, including a .520 mark in the first game (15-2-25). Martin led MSU with five digs with Silva and freshman KRISTEN RUGGIERI each posting four.
Montclair returns to action on Saturday, September 8 in the Panther Invitational held at SUNY Old Westbury. The Red Hawks will face Baruch College at Noon followed by a 2:00 pm match with Farmingdale State.
