Montclair, NJ – Freshmen Melissa Terpstra (Midland Park, NJ, Midland Park) and Courtney Matlock (Jackson, NJ, Jackson Memorial) each collected 11 kills as Montclair State stretched its winning streak to five with a three-set victory over Ramapo in a New Jersey Athletic Conference matchup at the Panzer Athletic Center on Tuesday.  MSU won the match 25-15, 28-26 and 25-19.

Senior libero Kaitlyn Irwin (Cranford, NJ, Cranford) registered a match-high 14 digs as the Red Hawks improved to 13-6 overall, 4-2 in the NJAC. Montclair is currently a half-game ahead of the Roadrunners and Kean for third place in the league standings.

Freshman Rachel Selmore (Morristown, NJ / Morristown) and sophomore Cathryn Smart (Princeton Juniction, NJ / West Windsor-Plainsboro South) had six kills apiece for Ramapo (12-10, 3-2 NJAC), which dropped its second straight.

Terpstra, the NJAC Rookie of the Week, had five kills and four aces in the first set as the Red Hawks juped out to a 10-5 lead on back-to-back kills from Matlock, who had four in the opening set. Leading 15-10, Montclair ran off six straight points, the first two on kills by Rebecca Matasker (Washington Township, NJ, Westwood) with the final four coming on aces by Terpstra for a 21-10 advantage. Terpstra collected the final point on a kill as MSU led 1-0 in the match.

Ramapo would jump out to a 10-6 lead in the second set which grew to 14-9 on a kill by Smart. The Red Hawks countered with the next five points tying the set at 14-14. Ramapo answered with the next three points and led 21-16 following an attack error by Montclair State. MSU rallied again with a 7-2 run as an ace by Kimberly Butrico (Cresskill, NJ, Cresskill) knotted the set at 23-23. Smart gave Ramapo the lead however a ball-handling error tied it up again at 24-all. Smart again gave the Roadrunners the lead but Sara Girgus (Green Brook, NJ, Watchung Hills) answered for Montclair forging a 25-25 tie. The teams traded errors to make the score 26-26. Matlock pushed Montclair ahead once more with the last of her four kills in the set and Terpstra finished it off with an ace as MSU won 28-26 for a two-set lead.

The Red Hawks used the momentum of the win and built a 7-3 lead in the third. The lead was 13-7 on a kill by Matlock before Ramapo chipped away at the deficit pulling within 16-15 on an MSU error. Montclair would widen the lead to 21-17 as Angela Campo (Washington Township, NJ, Westwood) served an ace. A kill by Kaitlin Mac Iver (Hillsdale, NJ / Pascack Valley) made the score 22-19 however Terpstra answered with a kill and then combined with Matasker on a block before an attack error ended the match at 25-19.

Campo finished with 29 assists and six digs while Butrico and Samantha Szura (Hewitt, NJ, Ramapo) had seven and six kills, respectively. Terpstra, McNish and Matakser had three blocks apiece.

Sara Pendleton (Rutherford, NJ / Rutherford) had five kills for Ramapo which got eight digs from Selmore and a team-high 11 digs from sophomore Emily Harris (East Brunswick, NJ / East Brunswick).

Montclair posted its second straight victory against Ramapo improved to 24-6 all-time against the Roadrunners.

Both teams are in action on Thursday, October 17 with NJAC matches. Montclair State is in Glassboro, NJ to face Rowan while Ramapo hosts Rutgers-Camden with both contests beginning at 7:00 pm.