Montclair, NJ – The Montclair State University volleyball team (15-3, 3-1 NJAC) hosted Rutgers-Camden (6-10, 0-4 NJAC) for a Tuesday night NJAC showdown, where the Red Hawks secured a 3-1 win against the Scarlet Raptors.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Camden jumped out to early leads of 5-2 and 8-4, before Montclair fired back with six unanswered points to take an 11-8 lead, sparked by two kills and a block by LILY THOMAS. The Scarlet Raptors closed the gap to 12-11 before a run of 6-1 pushed the Red Hawk lead out to 17-11. At a score of 18-14, Montclair, the Red Hawks rattled off seven of the next eight points to secure set one with a score of 25-15.
- Both teams battled up to a 4-3 Rutgers-Camden lead. Montclair took control with a 9-2 run that saw two CAMRYN MUUSS service aces and kills by BRYN BAUTISTA and LUCY CORNELIUS to take a 12-6 advantage. The two teams saw a long back-and-forth exchange until, with a 19-14 edge, the Red Hawks scored the next six points and sealed set two by a score of 25-14.
- Montclair rattled off the first five points and eventually extended the lead to 9-3. Camden clawed back to within two points at 9-7, but Montclair held them off with back-to-back kills by Muuss and Bautista. The two teams exchanged blows with the Red Hawks holding a 18-12 advantage. The Scarlet Raptors did not quit and fought back hard with a 7-2 run that cut the lead to 19-18. Kills from Muuss and Thomas put the Montclair lead out to 22-19, but Camden flipped the script with a 5-1 run to put themselves at a set-point score of 24-23. An attack error on the Scarlet Raptors invoked the win by two rule, and after a volley of points by both teams, Rutgers-Camden was the one to put the two points together and avoided the sweep by a set-three score of 27-25.
- The Red Hawks came out of the block hot off the set-three defeat, jumping out to a 7-2 advantage. Camden tried to climb back at a score of 9-5, but Montclair put together the biggest run of the night with an 11-1 run that broke the set wide open at 20-6. Cornelius dominated that set on the serve with three service aces. The lead was too great to overcome and the Red Hawks sealed the set and the match by a score of 25-10 in set four.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- It's been home cooking for Montclair this season thus far. They are a perfect 12-0 inside the Panzer Athletic Center and extended the win streak to seven matches in a row.
- Muuss and Bautista each record double-doubles on the night. Muuss had 14 kills and 15 digs, with Bautista recording 12 kills and 19 digs.
- Sophia DiProfio saw back-to-back matches with double-digit kills, with 10 on the night to go along with two blocks.
- Also seeing season-highs tonight were EMMA HATCHER and Cornelius. Hatcher accumulated a career-high 22 digs in the contest, and Cornelius saw a season-high 47 assists. That performance is the seventh-best four-set mark in school history.
FROM THE COURT
- We did a great job tonight on our offense, hitting close to .300 in the match. Lucy did a great job mixing the offense, and Bryn, Cam, and Sofia had great performances with double-digit kills. Both Lily and provided offense from the middle and had a great blocking game. We struggled a bit on serve receive, which was credited to Rutgers-Camden. They did a great job from the service line, and I thought they played hard on defense, making play after play. I am proud of the way we bounced back to finish the fourth set." Head Coach Eduardo Stawinski
UP NEXT
- Montclair will head to Wilkes-Barre, Pa, for a tri-match on Saturday, October 11. They will face Elizabethtown at 2:00 p.m. before a matchup with host Wilkes at 4:00 p.m.
