Box Score
Wayne, NJ - Sophomore Marta Topor (Bogota, NJ, Bogota) posted 13 kills and 21 digs while freshman Daniella Salemo (Ramsey, NJ, Ramsey)added 13 kills and 17 digs as Montclair State clinched a berth in the New Jersey Athletic Conference Tournament with a 3-1 victory over William Paterson at the WPU Rec Center on Thursday.
Junior Alyssa Batiste (Manahawkin, NJ, Southern Regional) added 11 kills, three aces and 12 digs as the Red Hawks knocked off the Pioners, 25-22, 22-25, 25-20 and 25-19. The win put MSU (10-14) at 3-3 in the NJAC, tied with Rutgers-Camden for fourth place. Montclair owns the tiebreaker with the Scarlet Raptors as both teams have one league match remaining. MSU defeated Rutgers-Camden 3-0 at the Panzer Athletic Center on September 22.
Montclair State and Rutgers-Camden will face each other in the opening round of the tourmament as the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds on Tuesday, November 1 with the site to be determined. Last year, the Red Hawks fell to the Scarlet Raptors in the opening round in Camden.
MSU takes on first-place Richard Stockton in its final league match while Rutgers-Camden battles second-place Ramapo with both matches taking place on October 27. If Rutgers-Camden wins and MSU loses, then the Red Hawks would go to Camden, NJ for the opening round. A Red Hawk victory or both teams winning or losing would give Montclair State home court advantage for that match.
Tied at 19-19, the Red Hawks won six of the final nine points to come away with a 25-22 opening victory. The Pioneers responded by jumping out to a 13-2 lead in the second, then held off a late MSU rally for a 25-22 win to even the match at 1-1. Knotted at 18-18, MSU used the serve of sophomore Kimberly Butrico (Cresskill, NJ, Cresskill) to reel off the next four points, and the Red Hawks eventually won the third set by a 25-20 score. WP scored the first point of the fourth, but Montclair State never trailed again in winning the deciding set, 25-19.
Sara Girgus (Green Brook, NJ, Watchung Hills) had six kils, eight digs and four total blocks for MSU while setter Angela Campo (Washington Township, NJ, Westwood) posted 44 assists and 19 digs. Libero Kaitlyn Irwin (Cranford, NJ, Cranford) led the team with 24 digs along with four service aces. Freshman Erika Gerner (Sparta, NJ, Sparta) had five kills.
The Red Hawks return home for a tri-match on Saturday, October 22. Montclair State faces College of St. Elizabeth at 11:00 am before taking on Hunter College at 3:00 pm.
