Montclair, NJ – The Montclair State University volleyball team (24-5, 5-3 NJAC), who entered its final NJAC regular-season contest with a 14-0 home record this season, saw it get snapped with a 3-0 loss against Kean (25-5, 7-1 NJAC) on Tuesday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Kean rattled off the first three points of the contest before CAMRYN MUUSS cut into an early advantage with two straight kills. The Cougars jumped out to an 8-4 advantage, but Montclair fought back, scoring six of the next eight to tie the match up 10-10. Kean saw a 5-1 run answered by a 4-1 run by Montclair, who narrowed the deficit to one, but Kean continued to hold off the Red Hawks and scored six of the next eight points to hold a 21-16 lead. Montclair tried to mount a comeback, scoring the next four points, but Kean responded with four of their own to take set one, 25-20.
• Muuss, BREANNA CRAIG, and SOFIA DIPROFIO each hammered down a kill to help the Red Hawks take a 4-1 lead early. Holding a 6-4 edge, Kean swung the next three points to take its first lead of the set. Montclair responded by scoring the next five points, including two kills by Brynn Bautista, pushing the advantage to 11-7. The Red Hawks held a 15-11 lead before Kean rallied back with an unanswered run of seven points to flip the set in their favor, 18-15. That run proved to be crucial as they held off any Montclair rally attempt and sealed set two with a 25-22 score.
• After Montclair took the first two points of set three, Kean flurried five of the next six to hold a lead of 5-3. The Cougars scored nine of the next 12 points to take a 14-7 lead, but a run of six unanswered points that included two kills by Muuss, a service ace from EMMA HATCHER, and a block by both Craig and RYLEE SHERMAN, cut the lead to 14-13. After a pair of points by both teams, the Cougars rattled off seven of the next nine to jump out 23-17. Montclair tried to storm back with a 7-2 run, but Kean put down the last kill to earn a crucial conference sweep.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Muuss and Bautista each led today with 11 kills. They also each tallied seven digs.
• Hatcher led with 10 digs, while KASEY TRZASKA led with two service aces.
• LUCY CORNELIUS tallied 23 assists in the match.

 
FROM THE COURT

• "Unfortunately, the end result is not what we wanted tonight. Credit to Kean as they put pressure on us from their serve and forced our offense off the net for most of the night. If we passed a bit better, I think the result would have been different. I am proud of the way we battled until the end. We had some injuries that we had to deal with, and players stepped up and delivered when we needed it. Looking forward to the regular season finish this weekend and getting ready for the NJAC postseason." Head Coach Eduardo Stawinski

 
UP NEXT

• Montclair wraps up the regular season hosting St. Joseph's-Long Island and FDU-Florham on Saturday, November 9. They will take on the Eagles at 11:00 a.m. and the Devils at 3:00 p.m. They will also honor their two seniors for Senior Day.