Hoboken, NJ – The Montclair State rallied back from a 2-0 deficit to force a deciding set, but the momentum disappeared in the fifth as the Red Hawks record-setting 2016 season ended with a 3-2 loss to Clark University in the first round of NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship on Friday evening.
The Red Hawks dropped two close sets (25-23 each) and stayed alive with a 28-26 in third before powering to a 25-13 win in the fourth making the fifth set a necessity. But Clark (24-4) used an early advantage for a 15-9 win to advance to Saturday's second round.
Junior
HAYLEY MERRILL recorded 28 kills, the second-best single-match total in MSU history, and added 10 digs for Montclair State, which closed out the year at 26-9. MSU was making its second appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since 2007. Montclair earned its way into the NCAA Tournament after capturing the NJAC Championship – its third conference title overall and first since the aforementioned 2007 campaign.
The two teams battled back and forth in the first set with Montclair holding a 21-20 lead after
REBECCA MATASKER collected one of her 13 kills in the match. Marina Ramos tallied two of next three points for Clark giving the Cougars a 23-21 lead. Merrill and Ramos traded kills on the next three points making the score 24-23 Cougars before Ana Mercado put down a set from Rachel Webb giving Clark a 1-0 lead with the 25-23 win.
Set number two unfolded nearly the same way with Montclair State leading 22-21 on a Merrill kill. Back-to-back kills from Mercado and Jacqueline Jimenez put the Cougars back in front however
COURTNEY MATLOCK tied the score at 23-23. Hannah Fox put Clark back on top and she then closed out the set with another kill for a 25-23 win and two-set advantage.
Needing to win a set to keep their season going, Montclair State trailed 16-11 before going on a nine-point run taking the lead. Matlock had three kills and Matasker had two pushing the lead to 20-16. The two combined on a block for a 24-22 lead however the Cougars tied the score on consecutive kills from Jimenez and Ramos. After MSU went in front on a service error, Clark countered with the next two points for a 26-25 lead. Merrill recorded a season-saving kill tying the score and
APRIL DIANGELO served up an ace for a 27-26 Montclair lead. Di'Angelo set up Merrill on the next points putting the Red Hawk back into the match with a 28-26 triumph.
The win propelled MSU which jumped out a 3-0 lead in the fourth and led 12-4 after Merrill got a kill. The lead grew to 20-9 on a kill from Matlock and kills from
MADISON MAUTE and Matasker made the score 22-10. Matlock registered the last kill for the 25-13 and on to the fifth set the match went.
It was the fifth time Montclair went to a fifth set this season and Red Hawks were 3-1 in those matches, including a five-set win over Stockton in their NJAC semifinal contest. But the momentum from the previous set failed to translate and the Cougars scored the first two points and led 7-4 following a kill by Jimenez. A Matlock-Matsker block trimmed the lead to 7-6 but three straight points by Clark gave the Cougars a 10-6 advantage. Montclair got two back but a three-point run, including consecutive blocks by Courtney Pharr got Clark to a 13-8 advantage. The teams traded points before Webb served up an ace on match point.
Matakser added seven total blocks to her 13 kills night while Merrill made it a double-double performance with 10 digs.
ASHLEY GRIFFITH recorded 56 assists (2
nd-best single-game total) along with 19 digs with
DANIELLE OLCESE totaling 21 digs.
Matlock finished with 17 kills, completing her career with 1,091 – third on the MSU career list in addition to 1,228.5 points, fifth all-time. Merrill completed the year with 377 kills, fifth-highest season total while Griffith put up 1,114 assists, the third-best season total. Olcese had 541 digs for the year second only to Kaitlyn Irwin's 740 in 2010.
