Montclair, NJ – The Montclair State University volleyball team looks to keep its hot start to the season alive as it competes in the first day of the NYU Violets Tournament against #25 Christopher Newport on Friday.

GAME INFO
The match at New York University is set for a 4:30 pm. start. Live coverage of the match can be found at montclairathletics.com.

LAST TIME OUT
Montclair came out of a back-to-back tri-match weekend perfect when they downed Washington College, 3-1, and Hartwick, 3-0, this past Saturday. 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.
 
2025 TEAM LEADERS
MONTCLAIR STATE (6-0)
Kills: CAMRYN MUUSS, 60
Assists: LUCY CORNELIUS, 159
Digs: EMMA HATCHER, 77
Aces: EMMA HATCHER, 23
Blocks: LILY THOMAS, 15
 
CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT (4-3)
Kills: Alyssa Dozier, 76
Assists: Fielding Croft, 132
Digs: Megan James, 85
Aces: Megan James, 11
Blocks: Alyssa Dozier, 28
 
SCOUTING CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT
The Captains enter the NYU Tournament ranked #25 in the nation according to the 2025 American Volley Coaches Association (AVCA). They sport a 4-3 record after earning a clean sweep of St. Mary's College of Maryland, 3-0. In 2024, CNU posted a 26-10 overall record and were Coast to Coast Conference Champions after defeating UC Santa Cruz (3-1) and Salisbury (3-2). They earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they advanced all the way to the Regional Championship after defeating William Paterson (3-1) and East Texas Baptist (3-1), before being blanked by Washington & Lee, 3-0. According to the 2025 Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference preseason poll, Christopher Newport University received six out of seven first-place votes, making it the frontrunner to win the conference again.

SERIES HISTORY
The Red Hawks and the Captains will match up against each other for the first time on Friday.

LAST MEETING
N/A

UP NEXT
Montclair State University will enter the second and final day of the NYU Royals Tournament, where they take on Amherst at 3:00 p.m. and host #21 Violets at 5:00 p.m.