Montclair, NJ – The Red Hawks are back at the Panzer Athletic Center for the first time in 16 months as they face New Jersey City University.

ON THE AIR:
YouTube - Red Hawk Sports Network (Jon Kociban and Matt Bruchez)


THE TEAMS:
Montclair State played its first match in 481 days on Tuesday, falling to defending NJAC champion Stockton University in four sets. After dropping the first set 25-21, the Red Hawks bounced back with a 25-23 win in Set 2 before the Ospreys closed it out taking the final two sets. Junior LEAH HIGGINS led MSU with 12 kills while junior CARLY WATERMAN added nine along with eight digs. Junior DELANEY ST. PIERRE totaled 22 assists along with three service aces with junior MADDIE VALKO leading all Red Hawks with 20 digs.  New Jersey City had their season-opening match with Kean on Tuesday postponed for COVID-19 protocols. The Gothic Knights are coming off a 9-16 campaign a year ago and have a new head coach in Michal Kucza, who served as the Associate Head Coach for the NJCU men's team. Kucza will have the services of Sophomore Xarial Chandler, who led the team in kills with 196 along with 50 service aces during the 2019 campaign.
 

THE COACHES:
Michal Kucza (First Season): 0-0 overall
Eddie Stawinski (10th Season):  175-116 overall


KEY PLAYERS:

New Jersey City (2019 Returners)
Xarial Chandler (So., OH, 5-6, East Orange, NJ)
196 Kills, 50 Aces, 240 Digs, 16 Blocks

Katrina Nguyendon (So., S, 5-3, Union, NJ)
555 Assists, 37 Aces, 197 Digs

Yaidettive Vega (Jr., OH, 6-1, Jersey City, NJ)
157 Kills, 13 Aces, 128 Digs, 23 Blocks

Montclair State
LEAH HIGGINS (Jr., OH, 6-0, Leonia, NJ)
12 Kills, 3 Aces, 2 Blocks

CARLY WATERMAN (Jr., OH, 5-9, Verona, NJ)
9 Kills, 8 Digs

DELANEY ST. PIERRE (Jr., S, 5-9, Colorado Springs, CO)
22 Assists, 3 Aces, 5 Digs


TEAM STATS
New Jersey City ('19): 717 Kills, 651 Assists, 183 Aces, 1380 Digs, 92 Blocks
Montclair State: 32 Kills, 29 Assists, 7 Aces, 48 Digs, 3 Blocks
 

ALL-TIME SERIES: (MSU Leads 26-8)
Thursday's match marks the 35^th meeting between Montclair State and New Jersey City with the Red Hawks holding a decisive edge thanks in part two lengthy winning streaks. The two first met in October 1989, MSU's inaugural season, with MSU picking up the victory in straight sets. The Red Hawks claimed 15 of the first 16 meetings, including 11 straight from 1993-2001. The Gothic Knight would win six of the next eight matches, five straight until November 2007 when MSU snapped that with a dramatic four-set victory in the NJAC Championship match. After falling to NJCU the next season, MSU has reeled off the last 11 victories, dropping just one set during that time.

LAST 5 MEETINGS
9/24/19: MSU 3, NJCU 0 (25-13, 25-9, 25-13)
9/18/18: MSU 3, NJCU 0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-11)
10/24/17: MSU 3, NJCU 0 (25-7, 25-18, 25-23)
10/25/16: MSU 3, NJCU 1 (25-13, 24-26, 25-10, 25-9)
10/27/15: MSU 3, NJCU 0 (25-10, 25-16, 25-15)
 

NEXT UP: The Red Hawks go back on the road for their next match on Tuesday, March 9 down in Union, NJ against Kean University. First serve of the NJAC match at the Harwood Arena is set for 7:00 pm.