Montclair, NJ – Sophomore middle blocker
Dana McNish (Hawthorne, NJ, Hawthorne) recorded a career-best 12 kills to lead Montclair State to its first victory of the season as the Red Hawks swept past College St. Elizabeth 3-0 at the Panzer Athletic Center on Tuesday evening.
Freshman
Courtney Matlock (Jackson, NJ, Jackson Memorial) added 10 kills and four digs for the Red Hawks (1-4), who bounced back from an early first-set deficit to post a 26-24, 25-13, 25-18 win against the Screaming Eagles (5-3). MSU improved to 9-1 all-time against St. Elizabeth.
The Red Hawks jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first set however the Eagles countered with eight of the next nine points to take a 9-6 advantage. Tied at 13-13, MSU scored three straight points as McNish and Matlock sandwiched kills around an ace from
Melissa Terpstra (Midland Park, NJ, Midland Park) for a 16-13 lead. St. Elizbaeth cut the lead to 17-16 however two kills by Matclock and one from
Courtney LePore (Deer Park, NY, Deer Park) helped Montclair extend the lead to 21-16.
St. Elizabeth rallied again and tied the match at 24-24 as Montclair State was penalized for being out of rotation. But McNish answered with two straight kills giving MSU a 26-24 victory and a 1-0 lead in the match.
In the second set the teams were tied at 5-5 before three consecutive points by MSU made the score 8-5. Leading by two later in the set, MSU reeled off four points in a row capped off by an ace from
Angela Campo (Washington Township, NJ, Westwood) to take a 14-8 advantage. The lead grew to 19-13 before the Red Hawks ripped off the final six points, including two kills from
Marta Topor (Bogota, NJ, Bogota) to seal a 25-13 win and the 2-0 match lead.
MSU opened the third set with three aces by Terpstra however St. Elizabeth used an 8-4 run to take the lead at 8-7. A service error by CSE tied the match again but a kill by
Megan Cockcroft (Rutherford, NJ, Rutherford) and service ace by
Kaitlyn Irwin (Cranford, NJ, Cranford) were part of a 5-0 Red Hawks run that gave the Red Hawks a 12-8 lead it would not relinquish. McNish and
Sara Girgus (Green Brook, NJ, Watchung Hills) each had two kills to extend the lead to 17-11 and an ace by Campo put Montclair in front 22-14 before the Red Hawks closed out the match with a 25-18 win.
McNish had a solid hitting night with only two errors in 18 attempts (.556). Terpstra finished with three kills, five aces and a team-best 14 digs while Campo recorded 37 assists and seven digs. Topor had four kills while Irwin tallied nine digs.
The Red Hawks are back in action on Thursday, September 12 as they host Farmingdale State at the Panzer Athletic Center beginning at 7:00 pm.
