Montclair, NJ – The Montclair State University volleyball team split a pair of matches on Saturday to conclude its two-day opening weekend tournament at the Panzer Athletic Center.

Montclair fell in three sets to UMass Dartmouth and swept FDU-Florham in three sets to conclude the event.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Red Hawks (2-1) started strong against the Corsairs, tallying four of the first five points. Later in the set, the visitors rattled off four straight points to take a 20-16 advantage. Montclair could only get as close as two the rest of the way in the opening frame.
• Trailing 19-12 in the second set, the Red Hawks strung together five out of seven points, including a service ace from GABBY KONRAD and blocks from ZOEY HORN and RACHEL CURRAN. Back-to-back kills from SARAH CAPONE cut the margin to 23-19, but UMass Dartmouth closed out the stanza to double their lead.
• The two sides played a tightly contested third set, with neither team being able to separate themselves by more than two points for the opening 28 points. With the score 16-14, the visitors tallied seven out of the next eight points to gain control of the set and ultimately clinch the match.
• Montclair raced out to an 8-2 advantage on FDU-Florham, and later built their lead up to 12-4 on back-to-back kills from CAMRYN MUUSS and KASEY TRZASKA. Behind three kills from Horn, Montclair ballooned the advantage to 19-8 and would later close the set 25-12.
• The Red Hawks built a 12-3 lead early in the second stanza, a run capped off by four consecutive kills from Muuss, BRYN BAUTISTA, Horn, and Curran. Montclair rattled off the final seven points of the set to clinch it 25-9, a stretch that included three service aces from KATIE RODMAN.
• Up 17-13 in the third set, Montclair put together a 7-0 run capped off by three consecutive kills from MIA CAPRIGLIONE, Horn, and Muuss. The Red Hawks would eventually close out the Devils for their second win of the weekend.

INSIDE THE RESULTS

• Curran notched a team-leading 11 kills against FDU-Florham, marking the 16th time in her Montclair career with double-digit kills in a match.
• Muuss continued the strong start to her freshman season with 14 kills across the afternoon. Through three matches played, she leads the team with 31.
• Rodman collected four service aces against the Devils, her most since October 10, 2023 against NJCU.

FROM THE COURT

"Very happy with the start of our 2024 season. We are seeing some good things early on. UMass Dartmouth was solid this morning and we couldn't bounce back from a few of their runs, when we did, it was too close to the end of the set. I'm proud with our effort and staying in that game throughout. Against FDU we served very tough and did a good job in our offense both in side out and transition. Looking forward to practice this week and continue to build for next weekend." - Head Coach Eduardo Stawinski

UP NEXT

The Red Hawks will host Bard and Cedar Crest in a tri-match on Saturday, September 7. First serve from the Panzer Athletic Center is slated for 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM.