Montclair, NJ – Despite falling behind a set early, the Montclair State University Women's Volleyball team (11-6, 3-1 NJAC) took care of business and was victorious in their New Jersey Athletic Conference road match at Rutgers-Camden (5-13, 2-2 NJAC), 3-1 on Tuesday night.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After LILY THOMAS and RACHEL CURRAN tag teamed for a block to start the match, the Scarlet Raptors scored three straight points to take an early lead. They held off the Red Hawks attack until a 4-1 run that included kills from CAMRYN MUUSS and Curran, gave them an 8-7 lead. Rutgers took the next two points and the contest went back-and-forth throughout the middle portion of the set and saw six tied scores up to an 18-18 draw. It was at that point; Camden took over the driver's seat of the set with six unanswered points to set them up with set point at a 24-18 advantage. Montclair scored two points on kills from EMILY FERRI and Muuss, but the gap was too far to overcome and a final kill gave the Scarlet Raptors the set one victory.
• Set two started back-and-forth with three lead changes early up to a Rutgers-Camden advantage of 10-9. The Red Hawks swung momentum in their favor with five straight points on two service aces and a kill from Curran and kills from both Thomas and Muuss to take a 14-10 advantage. Rutgers-Camden fired back with three points in a row, but Montclair more than doubled that with seven unanswered points for a 21-13 lead. That run was generated by three kills from Muuss and a service ace from KATIE RODMAN. Muuss tallied two kills and a service ace down the stretch and Montclair State eventually took a 25-16 set-two triumph to nod the contest with one set win each.
• The Red Hawks kicked off set three with four straight points that included a service ace from EMILY CARCICH. A 5-1 run helped Camden tie the contest at five points apiece before Montclair strung together eight unanswered points to take a 13-5 advantage. The Scarlet Raptors tried to climb back and got as far as a 17-13 Red Hawks lead before a 6-1 run sparked by two kills from SARAH CAPONE, two kills by Muuss and a service ace from Curran, gave them a 23-14 lead. The lead once again proved to be to great for Rutgers-Camden after they went on a 4-1 run and it was Carcich who hammered down the set three final kill to give Montclair the match advantage.
• It was once again the Red Hawks who started off hot with a 7-1 run early on that included three kills from Muuss, a kill from Capone and one from SOPHIA LOPEZ. The early lead allowed Montclair to not have to generate a big run and just hold of Rutgers, which is exactly what they did up until a 19-14 lead where they scored four straight points to hold a 23-14 edge. Each team exchanged a service error and the game closed out on a Rutgers-Camden attack error that sealed the match for Montclair.

INSIDE THE RESULTS

• The Red Hawks have no won three straight NJAC contests after losing their first one of the season.
• Muuss led the way for the Red Hawks in kills for the seventh straight match in a row, collecting 24 on the night. It was her third match this season with 20+ kills.
• Rodman earned the team-high in digs for the fifth-straight match with 17. Of the 17 contests played this season, Rodman has had only one match under double-digit digs
• Carcich earned 43 assists on the night. Her 589 assists on the season currently sits atop of the NJAC as the best mark in 2024.

FROM THE COURT

"We came out a bit flat out of the gates and Camden was playing very well on all aspects of the game. We settled in the second set controlling unforced errors and serving tough. A conference win on the road is great and we look forward to this weekend playing a non-conference to come back to play at home next week." - Head Coach Eduardo Stawinski

UP NEXT

Montclair State is set for non-conference action at Baruch on Saturday, October 12. That match is slated for a 12:00pm start