Montclair, NJ – The Montclair State volleyball team made it memorable Senior Night for its six senior players as the Red Hawks rolled past Centenary College 3-0 at the Panzer Athletic Center on Wednesday evening.
Sara Girgus (Green Brook, NJ, Watchung Hills) collected 10 kills while
Marta Topor (Bogota, NJ, Bogota) added seven as the Red Hawks knocked off the Cyclones for the 10th time in 11 all-time meetings. The Red Hawks (16-9) won the match by scores of 25-16, 25-9 and 25-11.
With the six seniors comprising the MSU lineup, the Red Hawks fell behind early in the first set and trailed 9-8 before scoring the next five points including a pair of kills by Topor, who had four in the opening set. The lead grew to 19-13 on an ace by senior
Megan Cockcroft (Rutherford, NJ, Rutherford) and a kill by Girgus, who had five kills, gave Montclair at 20-14 lead. Senior
Lauren Sharp (Mendham, NJ, West Morris-Mendham) served two aces for a 23-15 lead and kills by Topor and sophomore
Courtney LePore (Deer Park, NY, Deer Park) gave the Red Hawks the 25-16 victory and a 1-0 lead in the match.
In the second set, MSU hit .417 committing just three errors in 24 attempts as it jumped out to a 9-4 lead on a kill from setter junior
Angela Campo (Washington Township, NJ, Westwood). Centenary (1-25) closed within 11-7 however the Red Hawks reeled off 10 of the next 11 points to take a 21-8 lead. Girgus had two kills in the run and senior
Kimberly Butrico (Cresskill, NJ, Cresskill) had two aces for Montclair which got an ace from senior libero
Kaitlyn Irwin (Cranford, NJ, Cranford) on set points for a 25-9 win.
MSU fell behind 3-0 in the third set before rallying for an 8-7 lead it would not relinquish on an attack error by the Cyclones. Campo served seven consecutive points for a 19-9 lead and after two points by Centenary, Topor collected a kill to ignite a match-ending six-point run for the 25-11 victory.
Cockcroft finished with five kills and six digs while Irwin, the all-time digs leader at MSU added nine to run her career total to 1,938. Sharp finished with two kills while Butrico added two kills and six digs. Campo collected 28 assists and nine digs.
Montclair, which will host an NJAC Tournament First-Round contest on Tuesday, November 5, closes out its regular-season this weekend at Oneonta State. The Red Hawks will take part in the Dig Pink Invitational on Friday and Saturday. MSU will face Plattsburgh State and Hartwick College on Friday, November 1 at 5:30 and 7:30 pm, respectively.
