Montclair, NJ – The Montclair State University volleyball team fell to William Paterson 3-1 in their New Jersey Athletic Conference opener on Tuesday night at the Panzer Athletic Center.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Red Hawks (8-6, 0-1 NJAC) played a tightly contested beginning to the match, as neither side could separate by more than three points during the opening 16. With the match level at eight, the Pioneers strung together 12 of the next 16 points to build a seven-point advantage. Montclair answered with four of the next six, led by a pair of kills from CAMRYN MUUSS and two attack errors. The rally was halted by the visitors, who closed out the first set up by seven.
• William Paterson went on a 6-2 run to kick off the second stanza, but the Red Hawks halted it with four-straight points, led again by two kills from Muuss and a pair of attack errors. Level at 12, the Pioneers notched three consecutive points before SARAH CAPONE notched back-to-back kills. After a service error made the score 16-14 in favor of the visitors, Montclair recorded five out of six points, a run capped off by an ace from GABBY KONRAD. The Pioneers briefly reclaimed the lead at 20-19, but Montclair finished the set with six out of seven points.
• The visitors jumped out in the third with four-straight points and eventually built a 12-6 lead. BRYN BAUTISTA tallied a kill on a feed from EMILY CARCICH, and then three-straight attack errors cut the deficit to two. After the Pioneers pushed the lead to seven later in the frame at 22-15, the Red Hawks cut it to four on a service error and kills from KASEY TRZASKA and Carcich. William Paterson sealed the go-ahead set with three consecutive points.
• William Paterson raced out to another four-point lead in the fourth set, but the Red Hawks cut it down to one at 4-3 on kills from Capone and Muuss along with an ace from Bautista. The Pioneers slowly built on their advantage, pushing the margin to 18-10. After Muuss tallied a kill, the Pioneers rattled off six out of seven to go up by double-digits. RACHEL CURRAN recorded consecutive kills, and an attack error made it a margin of nine, but the Pioneers sealed the victory on the next point.

INSIDE THE RESULTS

• Muuss led the Red Hawks with 14 kills on the night to go along with 12 digs.
• KATIE RODMAN led Montclair defensively with 17 digs, with Bautista notching 16.

FROM THE FIELD

"We battled some highs and lows tonight. We came out of the gates a bit flat which put us on our heels early. We made some adjustments and settled in the second set. After that we really didn't get in a groove offensively and struggled to produce on that end." - Head Coach Eduardo Stawinski

UP NEXT

The Red Hawks will travel to face Stockton on Tuesday, October 1. First serve from Galloway, NJ is scheduled for 7:00 PM.