Montclair, NJ – Freshman
LEAH HIGGINS registered 15 kills with
CARLY WATERMAN and
NATALIA MAJKUT adding 12 and 10 respectively as Montclair State scored the final four points to pull out a five-set victory over New York University at the Panzer Athletic Center on Thursday evening.
Junior
CAITLIN LANGE added seven kills and seven blocks as the Red Hawks (15-6) knocked off the Violets (14-12) for just the second time in 17 all-time meetings. MSU won the first and third sets 25-23 and 25-18 with NYU winning the second and fourth by the identical scores. Montclair took the decisive fifth 15-13.
NYU led 2-1 in the fifth before Montclair recorded the next four on three Violets miscues and kill from Majkut for a 5-2 advantage. A block by Lange and
ASHLEY GRIFFITH extended the lead to 8-4 before NYU scored five of the next six point knotting things up at 9-9.
Higgins put the Red Hawks back in front with a kill and an attack error made the score 11-9. Back came the Violets with four straight, capped by an Abby Ausmus kill giving the visitors at 13-11 advantage. Following a Montclair State timeout,
SCHYLER WHITE and Majkut combined for a block with an attack error making the score 13-13.
The Violets called timeout and the Red Hawks subbed in
CAITLIN AARTS to serve. The move paid off as Aarts served up an ace bringing Montclair to match points 14-13. The match ended on the next serve as the Violets were called for an illegal back row attack.
Majkut also had seven blocks for MSU which recorded 14 in the match. Waterman finished with a double-double adding a match-high 20 digs along with three aces. Griffith and
MEGAN O'ROURKE registered 25 and 21 assists respectively. White chipped in with four kills and four blocks while
ALEXANDRA CAMPOS netted 16 digs.
Ausmus led all players with 17 kills and had seven blocks. Nazzerine Waldon added 12 kills and 16 digs for NYU. Daryl Mitchell and Katie Goyette had 26 and 24 assists respectively with Waldon totaling 16 digs and Jacqueline Kupeli 17.
The Red Hawks are back in action on Saturday, October 20 with an early morning contest. MSU travels to Bethlehem, PA for a 10:00 am matchup against Moravian College.
