Montclair, NJ – Freshman outside hitter Courtney Matlock (Jackson, NJ, Jackson Memorial) collected a match-high 13 kills, including five in the fourth set as Montclair State posted its second straight NJAC victory with a 3-1 win over Rutgers-Camden at the Panzer Athletic Center on Thursday.

Senior libero Kaitlyn Irwin (Cranford, NJ, Cranford) had 15 digs to tie the MSU career mark as the Red Hawks dropped the first set 25-22 before coming back to win the match by scores of 25-21, 25-19 and 25-21. MSU improved to 10-4 against the Scarlet Raptors and snapped a two-match losing streak against Rutgers-Camden.

Sophomore middle hitter Sydney Allen (Magnolia, NJ / Sterling) had nine kills and eight total blocks for  the Scarlet Raptors, who dropped their 10 straight match. Rutgers-Camden fell to 1-16 overall, 0-2 in the NJAC.

Allen and Olivia Rowland Hillsborough, NJ / Hillsborough) had four kills in the opening set as Rutgers-Camden raced out to a 9-3 lead and led 15-8 after an MSU service error. Montclair battled back drawing within 19-18 on a service ace from Rebecca Matasker (Washington Township, NJ, Westwood) however Allen had a kill and an attack error gave the Raptors a 21-18 lead. Consecutive kills by Matlock made it 21-20 but back-to-back attack errors by Montclair and a service error gave Rutgers-Camden a 24-22 lead before Morgan Halbruner (Voorhees, NJ / Eastern) finished off the set with a kill giving the Scarlet Raptors a 25-22 win and 1-0 lead in the match.

Michelle Dixon (Sicklerville, NJ / Eastern) served up two aces for Rutgers-Camden to open the second set however Montclair  scored five of the next six points to take a 5-3 lead.  The Raptors would later tie the match at 15-15 on a kill by Halbruner. but a service error following an MSU time out gave the lead back to Montclair and a kill by Matlock and ace from Marta Topor (Bogota, NJ, Bogota) restored the lead to 18-15. Matlock would add two kills for a 22-18 lead and a kill from Dana McNish (Hawthorne, NJ, Hawthorne) ended the set as the Red Hawks squared the match a 1-all with a 25-21 win.

Matasker had a kill and three errors by Rutgers-Camden gave MSU a 13-7 lead in the third set which it would hold on to. Two aces from Dixon brought the Raptors within 22-19 but Matasker and Topor blocked Halbruner and two errors from Rutgers-Camden gave Montclair a 25-19 triumph.

Montclair's Nicole Izzo (Flemington, NJ, Hunterdon Central) recorded a solo block at 14-9 in the fourth set giving the Red Hawks the five-point cushion however Rutgers-Camden battled back tying the match at 18-18 on a kill by Cari Applegate (Stratford, NJ / Sterling). Matlock added a pair of kills sandwiched around a block by Angela Campo (Washington Township, NJ, Westwood) and McNish and an attack error by the Raptors led to a 22-18 lead by MSU. Cortnee Wilkerson (Los Angeles, CA / West Adams Prep) had kill to cut the lead to 22-20 but Campo and McNish answered for MSU making the score 24-20. After holding off one match point, the Raptors attack attempt went wide as MSU took the match with the 25-21 win.

Irwin finished with a pair of aces as she tied Lauren Mazurkiewicz (1995-98) for the all-time MSU record for digs with 1,756. Campo had a double-double with 27 assists and 12 digs and also collected five kills. McNish finished with six kills with Matasker posting four kills and five total blocks.

Rowland had seven kills for Rutgers-Camden, which got six kills from Halbruner. Wilkerson had four kills and 12 digs with Dixon posted 16 assists and six digs. Nancy Brown (Cherry Hill, NJ / Cherry Hill East) had 11 assists with libero Melanie Kaiser (Somerdale, NJ / Sterling) registering a match-high 17 digs.

Montclair State returns to action on Saturday, September 28 as the Red Hawks head to Newburgh, NY to face Mount St. Mary and Lehman in a tri-match. Rutgers-Camden is off until Thursday, October 3 hosting William Paterson at 7:00 pm.