Montclair, NJ (10/14/08) – Sophomore outside hitter DEVON JOHNSTON (Moorestown, NJ / Moorestown) collected a season-high 22 kills along with14 digs and four total blocks as Montclair State posted its fourth straight victory with a four-set win against local rival William Paterson in NJAC volleyball action at the MSU Student Recreation Center.

Junior KAREN MARTIN (Sicklerville, NJ / Washington Township) added 11 kills, three service aces and 10 digs as the Red Hawks improved to 15-9 overall, 6-1 in the NJAC. Montclair dropped the first set 30-28, but finished off the match by capturing the next three, 25-21, 25-19, 25-16.

Junior Kelly Helfrich ( Clark, NJ / Arthur L. Johnson) had 14 kills, 20 digs and six solo blocks for the Pioneers, who had a three-match win streak snapped in falling to 13-5 overall, 2-4 in the conference.

The first set was tightly contest until the Pioneers used a six-point run on the service of Helfrich to take a 16-9 lead. The lead would grow to 20-13 as Montclair committed a ball handling error, but the Red Hawks responded with a seven-point run of their own. ADRIANNE MOE ( Rutherford, NJ / Rutherford) had two aces during the spurt and three consecutive WPU hitting errors tied the set a 20-20. From that point there would be seven ties as the Pioneers held off three set-points before finally ending the set on a service ace by Amanda Mitchell ( Secaucus, NJ / Secaucus) for the 30-28 win.

Set two would feature more of the same, until the Red Hawks slowly built up a five-point lead at 13-8 on a William Paterson attack error. The Pioneers would close the game to 20-19 on a kill by freshman Megan Maher ( Wood Ridge, NJ / Wood Ridge). But Johnston tacked on two of her five kills in the set to make the score 22-19 and she later served out the set as Montclair squared the match at a set apiece on a kill by Martin for a 25-21 win in set No. 2.

Johnston had five kills and Martin three aces in the third set as Montclair went up 2-1 with a 25-19 victory. After being up by as many as eight in the set (15-7, William Paterson came back to take a 19-18 lead. But Montclair would run off the final seven points, including a pair of aces by Martin. KARA BURNHAM ( Moorestown, NJ / Moorestown) and Johnston finished off the set with a block, one of nine by the Red Hawks in the match.

In the fourth set, William Paterson jumped out to a 6-0 lead as Samantha Reed ( Dumont, NJ / Dumont) had a pair of aces while Helfrich had two kills. MSU would win 10 of the next 12 points to take a two-point lead, however William Paterson regained the advantage on a Helfrich kill at 12-11. After two more ties, Montclair took advantage of two Pioneers hitting errors and a kill by Johnston to go up 17-14. Johnston would put down three more kills and the Red Hawks completed the win at Martin recorded her last kill for a 25-16 triumph.

Burnham had six kills and seven total blocks for MSU while registered three kills, five service aces and eight digs. Sophomore KRISTEN RUGGIERI ( Hillsdale, NJ / Pascack Valley) had 35 assists and eight digs with libero MEGHAN STEVENS ( Woodcliff Lake, NJ / Pascack Hills) posting a team-best 18 digs.

Maher had eight kills, six assists and 10 digs for William Paterson while Chic Chi Okeke ( Newark, NJ / Science Park) added six kills. Jillian Bronowich ( Secaucus, NJ / Secaucus) led the Pioneers with 15 assists while Mitchell and Mailyn Rodriguez ( Hackensack, NJ / Hackensack) recorded 13 and 11 digs, respectively.

Both teams return to action in non-conference contests. Montclair State heads to Baruch College in New York City on Friday, October 17. The Red Hawks will face Central College of Iowa at 6:00 pm with an 8:00 pm contest against the host Bearcats. William Paterson hosts Mt. St. Mary (NY) on Thursday, October 16 at 7:00 pm in Wayne.