Montclair, NJ – The Montclair State University volleyball team (11-5, 2-1 NJAC) hosted New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) play for the first time this season on Thursday evening, where they cruised past Rutgers-Newark (6-6, 0-3 NJAC), 3-0.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Red Hawks (11-5, 2-1 NJAC) traded the first eight points of the night with the Scarlet Raiders before stringing together three in a row on kills by ISABELLE HAWKINSON and BRYN BAUTISTA, along with a service ace from ERIN SAUNDERS. After Rutgers-Newark trimmed the gap to two, Montclair embarked on a 7-1 stretch that was capped off by a kill from LILY THOMAS going into the media timeout of the opening stanza. Montclair continued to rack up points, stacking four more coming out of the stoppage on a trio of errors from the visitors, along with another kill from Hawkinson to make the margin 12 at 19-7. The two sides traded the next six points to keep the gap at 12, with the home side registering three of the final four points of the set, sealed by a kill from BREANNA CRAIG to take the opener 25-11.
- Rutgers-Newark kicked off the second frame with five of the first six points before the Red Hawks cut the gap to two on a service error from the Scarlet Raiders and another kill from Hawkinson. Later in the set, with the score 10-8 in favor of the visitors, Montclair collected five-straight points on a trio of errors and kills by Craig and Bautista to force a Rutgers-Newark timeout. The Scarlet Raiders battled back with four of the next six going into the media timeout and would equalize right after at 15. Montclair countered with five of the game's next seven markers as Hawkinson tallied a pair of kills to make the score 20-17. With the gap at one late, 23-22, a timeout from the Red Hawks led to the final two points of the set on kills from Bautista and SOFIA DIPROFIO.
- Bautista and LILY THOMAS kicked off the third set with kills. Following a Red Hawk attacking error, Montclair strung together four points in a row to take a 6-1 lead. A Scarlet Raider kill was once again answered by the Red Hawks, who, behind four different kills from different players, scored the next six points to push out to a 12-2 advantage. Montclair continued its momentum, scoring eight of the next 10 points, highlighted by two kills and a block by Craig that gave the Red Hawks a 19-4 advantage. Rutgers rallied back a bit, but Montclair never gave them a true run. RYLEE SHERMAN, AVA FIEDLER, and Hawkinson all earned kills down the stretch to assist Montclair to a 25-11 win and sealed the conference sweep.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- The Red Hawks outdid the three-set kill mark of 39 against Nazareth last weekend with a season-best 40 kills during three-set matches this season. Hawkinson led the category with a season-high 12 kills.
- Craig was efficient on her swings tonight, hammering down seven with no errors and garnering a .583 hitting percentage. It was her most efficient outing on 10 or more swings since the season opener against Manhattanville, which was .667 on 13 kills and 18 total attacks.
- Whitehead once again led the team in digs with 14. She has now reached double-digit digs in each of her last 10 matches.
- LUCY CORNELIUS dished out 31 assists in the match. Her 390 assists and 7.80 assists per set rank as the third-best in the conference so far this season.
- Montclair continued its impressive run against Rutgers-Newark. Since 2007, the two teams have faced each other 21 times, with the Red Hawks winning 19 of them. They have also won each of the last nine, dating back to 2018.
FROM THE COURT
- "Really solid performance from start to finish tonight. I thought we played well together, limited our mistakes, and stayed consistent in what we wanted to do. Two conference wins this week are very important. I thought we did a great job fixing some areas from Tuesday night. Proud of our effort and focus tonight." Head Coach Eduardo Stawinski
UP NEXT
- Montclair continues its conference slate with a matchup at Stockton on Tuesday, October 6. The matchup is set for a 6:00 p.m. start.
