Montclair, NJ – Sophomore CAITLIN LANGE and freshman SIYARA HERBERT each registered 10 kills as Montclair State swept past College of New Rochelle to earn a split of its season-opening matches at the Panzer Athletic Center on Saturday.

The Red Hawks (1-1) bounced back from 3-1 loss to Manhattanville earlier in the day which snapped their 14-match home winning streak.

Freshman SARAH GONCZLIK and junior NATALIA MAJKUT added seven and six kills respectively in the victory of the Blue Angels (0-2) as MSU took the match with set victories of 25-13, 25-18 and 25-21.

Junior ASHLEY GRIFFITH had 36 assists along with eight kills while libero LILY SCANZILLO totaled 14 digs. Lange added five blocks to round out her performance with Majkut adding four as Montclair registered eight in the contest.

Herbert had five in the opening set as six players had two or more. Leading 6-4, Herbert posted back-to-back kills for a 9-4 lead and later added another as MSU opened up a 16-7 advantage. Majkut doubled the score at 22-11 with a kill one from Lange along with a block put the Red Hawks a point away. After New Rochelle held off match point, Herbert closed out the set with her final kill in the 25-13 win.

MSU held small margins in the second and grabbed a 20-15 advantage as JILLIAN WILSON recorded a kill. Gonczlik collected two kills making the score 23-17. Lange and Majkut combined for a block on the next play before a service error gave Montclair State the set win, 25-18 and a 2-0 lead in the match.

In the third, Montclair trailed 11-10 before scoring seven of the next eight points to grab the lead for good. Lange had a hand in the final four points with three kills and a block that gave the Red Hawks a 17-12 advantage. New Rochelle closed the gap to 19-17 however MSU registered the next three points on a kills by Lange and Herbert sandwiched around an ace by Scanzillo. Consecutive errors allowed the Blue Angels to get back to 23-21 but Herbert quelled any comeback with her final kill before CAITLIN AARTS served up an ace on match point.

Lange led the Red Hawks in the loss to Manhattanville (2-1) with 13 kills. MSU won the first set 25-15 but dropped the next three 25-23, 25-23 and 25-22 as the Valiants erased several deficits in each set. Wilson put up 11 kills along four aces while Herbert collected nine kills and seven digs.

APRIL DIANGELO, who had 14 digs, and Gonczlik had eight kills apiece. Griffith fell on dig shy of a double double finishing with 38 assists and nine digs. Scanzillo led all Montclair State players with 19 digs.

Montclair State is back in action next weekend, September 8-9 in the Hawks Invitational at SUNY New Paltz. MSU will face Southern Vermont and the host Hawks on Friday before taking on The Sage Colleges and Mount St. Mary on Saturday.