Wayne, NJ – Junior NIKKI SENOPOULOS collected 15 kills while junior COURTNEY MATLOCK added 13 as Montclair State extended its winning streak to five with a 3-1 win over local and NJAC rival William Paterson on Tuesday evening.

Senior COURTNEY LEPORE added 11 kills along with six blocks as the Red Hawks (14-7) bounced back from a 25-20 first-set loss taking the last three sets 25-13, 25-15 and 25-21. Montclair remained tied for second place with Ramapo College at 5-2 in league play.

MSU holds the tiebreaker against the Roadrunners and with a win against New Jersey City University on Tuesday, October 27 can lock up No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the conference tournament which gets underway on Tuesday, November 3.

After dropping the first set, Montclair State came out sharp in the second set hitting .345 committing just three errors in 29 attempts. The Red Hawks scored the first three point and led 19-5 after the Pioneers committed their fourth attack error in a five-point span. Le Pore made the score 20-9 and a kill by Matlock pushed the lead to 24-13. WPU would hold off for one point however Maute evened the match at 1-1 with one of her eight kills on the evening.

The hot hitting continued into the third as MSU posted a .458 hitting efficiency with one error in 24 attempts. A five-point run gave Montclair a 6-2 advantage which later grew to 18-8 as Maute finished off an assist from KIMBERLY MATLOCK. Leading 20-14, Montclair scored the next four points, including an ace by ASHLEY GRIFFITH making the score 24-14. Senopoulos closed out the set with a kill as Montclair took a 2-1 lead with the 25-15 lead.

The final set would be close as the Red Hawks led 16-13 before getting some breathing room with a three-point run. LePore added a kill for a 21-14 advantage when the Pioneers scored three in a row to close within three points. Senopoulos ended the run with a kill and kills by LePore and Maute put MSU at match point. William Paterson held off two points however a service error ended the match.

Senopoulos made it a double-double adding 12 kills while libero DANIELLE OLCESE had a match-high 23 digs. Kim Matlock had 51 assists with Griffith serving up four aces. NATALIA MAJKUT, the two-time NJAC Rookie of the Week had five kills and six blocks.   

Montclair is back in action on Friday, October 23 as it heads to Anville, PA to face Lebanon Valley College at 8:00 pm. MSU will then take on Wilkes University and Elizabethtown College on Saturday at Noon and 2:00 pm, respectively.