Newark, NJ - The Montclair State volleyball team clinched a first-round home match in the upcoming NJAC Tournament as the Red Hawks topped Rutgers-Newark in four sets on Thursday.
The Red Hawks (14-8) closed out their league schedule at 5-3 and will be at the Panzer Athletic Center for a first-round match in the NJAC Tournament on Tuesday, November 5 against an opponent to be determined. Montclair would be no worse than the No. 4 seed in the tournament and could reach No. 3 with a Kean loss to Richard Stockon on Saturday and a win by Ramapo against William Paterson on Thursday, October 31. That scenario would create a three-way tie for third between Kean, MSU and Ramapo with the Red Hawks winning the tiebreaker.
Freshman outside hitter
Melissa Terpstra (Midland Park, NJ, Midland Park) hammered down a match high 15 kills and totaled 17.5 points to lead a deep and talented Montclair State team. Junior setter
Angela Campo (Washington Township, NJ, Westwood) fueled the Red Hawk attack with 30 assists as MSU used 16 players in the match.
Terpstra had eight kills during the opening two games when MSU established command of the night, but Rutgers-Newark battled back in the third frame.
Adrianna Pagnotta and Maddie Moore had three kills apiece as the Raiders climbed out of an 11-6 hole to take the third game. A kill by Moore brought Rutgers-Newark to set point at 24-22 before an MSU service error ended the frame.
Terpstra nailed six kills on just 11 swings with no errors and delivered an ace as the Red Hawks powered their way through the fourth game by hitting .346 (11 kills, two errors, 26 attacks).
Marta Topor (Bogota, NJ, Bogota) had six kills while
Alexis Waters (Secaucus, NJ, Secaucus) and
Kaitlyn Irwin (Cranford, NJ, Cranford) added 12 and 11 digs, respectively.
Leah Stine (Bridgewater, NJ, Bridgewater-Raritan) added three kills, four aces and six digs.
The Red Hawks will return to action on Saturday, October 26 as it travels to Hunter College for a tri-match. MSU will face host Hunter and St. Mary's (IN) before coming home on Wednesday, October 30 to face Centenary.
