Montclair, NJ – The Montclair State University volleyball team notched two more victories on Saturday afternoon at the Panzer Athletic Center, taking down Washington College (Md.) and Hartwick.

Montclair defeated Washington College in four sets before sweeping Hartwick to close out the opening weekend undefeated.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Red Hawks (4-0) were hot out of the gate to kick off the afternoon, recording four of the first five points. After the Shorewomen ended the run with a point, Montclair rattled off five of the next six highlighted by kills from BREANNA CRAIG, BRYN BAUTISTA, and CAMRYN MUUSS. Later in the stanza, the visitors cut the margin to 16-14 before Craig notched another kill. Consecutive attack errors increased the lead to five, but Washington College trimmed the set to two again at 19-17. Montclair closed out strong with a 6-1 run to take an early lead in the match.
• Washington College surged into the lead to begin the second set, building a 11-4 advantage. Craig ended the run with back-to-back kills, but the Shorewomen answered with six of the next seven points to push the advantage up to nine. LILY THOMAS recorded two of the next three on kills, but the visitors ended the second set with the final six points.
• Locked at nine through the first 18 points of the third stanza, Muuss put Montclair in front with a kill before BRYN BAUTISTA tallied consecutive service aces to increase the margin to three. Washington College countered with five of the next eight to come within two, 17-15. The Red Hawks rattled off the final eight points to reclaim the lead in the match, highlighted by five kills from Bautista.
• Fighting a slim 8-7 deficit in the early stages of the fourth frame, LUCY CORNELIUS tallied back-to-back kills and an attack error from the Shorewomen vaulted Montclair in front. Three-straight from the visitors created a slim 11-10 advantage, but the Red Hawks accumulated six of the next seven points on five errors and a service ace from Bautista. Washington College made a late push in the match, cutting the score to 24-19, but Muuss finished the set off with a kill for a Montclair victory.
• Against Hartwick, the Red Hawks compiled a 6-3 advantage in the opening set on kills from Muuss, Bautista, and Thomas. The Hawks battled back to take the lead twice, but the home side countered with five-straight points, a run capped off by BREANNA CRAIG, to take a 12-8 lead. Hartwick answered once again and reclaimed the lead multiple times late, at 21-20. Bautista and SOFIA DIPROFIO notched kills to push Montclair in front, and Thomas recorded another to seal the opening stanza.
• Hartwick opened the second set with four-straight and built a 6-2 lead before Montclair equalized with four consecutive markers. In a back-and-forth battle, the Red Hawks built a 14-11 advantage led by kills from the trio of Thomas, Bautista, and Muuss. With the match level at 22, Bautista put Montclair in front along with an attack error before three-straight points from the Hawks put them at set point. The home side closed with three of their own, capped off by a service ace from EMMA HATCHER.
• A 6-0 run early in the third frame from Montclair put them in front 8-6, and later built the margin to four on two Hartwick errors and a kill from Craig. The visitors battled back to reclaim the advantage at 13-12, as the two sides would trade points for a chunk of the set. Up one, the Red Hawks closed the match strong with six of the last seven points, highlighted by kills from Muuss and Bautista.

INSIDE THE RESULTS

• Muuss led the way offensively in the first match of the day with 12 kills, with Bautista adding 11 along with nine digs and four service aces. 
• Cornelius finished the opening match with 25 assists and 14 digs. 
• In the second match, Muuss once again held the team-lead in kills with 14, posting a double-double with 15 digs. Bautista also notched a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs.
• With their four-match unbeaten streak to begin the campaign, Montclair has recorded their strongest start since the 1998 season, when the team rattled off seven consecutive victories.

FROM THE COURT

"This was a tough opening weekend tournament and I'm extremely proud of the team and our performance. We played four strong opponents to start the year and found ways to finish sets, overcome adversity, and control matches. There's so much to take from this weekend in terms of continuing to build upon the success of it, but also work on some areas to stabilize. We did a great job and look forward to a few days off before we compete next weekend." - Head Coach Eduardo Stawinski

UP NEXT

The Red Hawks will wrap up their season-opening six-match homestand on Saturday, September 6 at the Panzer Athletic Center. They will host Baruch at 12:00 PM and take on Lebanon Valley at 4:00 PM.