Montclair, NJ – The Montclair State volleyball team will look to add a second conference championship in the last three seasons when the Red Hawks square off against Kean University in the NJAC Volleyball Championship Game on Saturday.

First serve between the fourth-seeded Red Hawks (20-9) and third-seeded and defending champion Cougars (18-15) is set for 1:00 pm inside Harwood Arena in Union. The winner also receives the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship which gets underway next week.

Montclair State is in the title game for the third time in the last four years after the Red Hawks stunned top-seeded Stockton in four sets on Thursday in the semifinals. Four MSU players registered double-digit for kills led by NJAC Rookie of the Year CARLY WATERMAN with 16. CAITLIN LANGE added 14 with NATALIA MAJKUT and LEAH HIGGINS getting 12 apiece.  Meanwhile the Cougars swept past second-seeded Rowan in three sets to reach the finals for a second consecutive season.

Kean captured the in-season meeting between the teams with a 3-1 win at home on September 11. Jesse Larkin and Brett Harper had 11 and 10 kills respectively for the Cougars. Waterman tallied 10 for Montclair State.
The teams are matching up in the NJAC Tournament for the seventh time overall and third consecutive year with Kean winning four of the previous six matches. They first met in 1989 with the Cougars winning in straight sets. Nine years later it was MSU's turn as it swept past Kean in the 1998 semifinals. The Cougars won the 2000 semifinal match in four sets and it would be 12 years before they met again. Kean prevailed in that contest 3-1 in match that was moved to the Panzer Athletic Center after Superstorm Sandy left the Union-based campus without power.  MSU returned the favor in 2016 winning 3-1 in the semifinals en route to the championship.  Kean posted a 3-0 victory in the semifinals last season on its way to the NJAC title.

The Cougars have won two straight and enter with an 18-15 record against a very difficult schedule. Kean has not dropped a set in its two NJAC Tournament matches sweeping William Paterson in the opening round prior to its win at Rowan on Thursday. Vikki Stec and Brett Harper each have 300 kills on the season and 1,000 for their respective careers. Zoe Strozewski and Jess Larkin are at 230 and 241 kills respectively. Brianna Calvano leads the NJAC in assists per set at 9.50 (931 total) with Strozewski and Larkin providing up-front toughness at the net with a combined 154 blocks.

MSU counters with Waterman (307) and Higgins (217), who both topped the 200-kill mark for the season. Majkut has 189 kills along with a team-best 61 blocks. Griffith has 811 assists and is second to Higgins (28 aces) for the team lead in aces with 26.

Montclair State is making its 26^th appearance in the NJAC Tournament since becoming a sport in 1989. The Red Hawks are 19-26 in that span with most of the losses coming in its infancy and when the tournament was a round-robin play. Montclair has won three championships – 1997 and 2007 along with the aforementioned 2016 title.