Montclair, NJ – Montclair State University women's volleyball (20-7) saw three big milestones on Friday night during a dramatic reverse sweep of Merchant Marine (19-4). Head coach Eduardo Stawinski earned his 300
th career win as a head coach, senior
LILY THOMAS became the all-time career block-assist leader in program history, and senior
ERIN SAUNDERS earned her 1000
th career dig.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Red Hawks fell behind early, as the Mariners tallied five of the night's first six points and would later build a 7-2 advantage on a pair of errors. Trailing by six shortly after, Montclair began to climb back after a timeout, as an attack error by Merchant Marine followed by a kill from BRYN BAUTISTA made the margin 9-5. After the visitors got those two points back, the Red Hawks notched seven of the next eight points, capped off by a kill from SOFIA DIPROFIO to bring the home side within one at 13-12. The Mariners countered with a 5-1 burst to go back up by five, but Montclair answered right away with three of the next four, highlighted by another kill from Bautista. Merchant Marine tacked on another pair of points to force a timeout, but would let Montclair climb back to within three late in the stanza. The Mariners notched two of the final three points to take the opener 25-21.
- Merchant Marine kicked off the second set with a 7-3 run that was halted by a kill from ISABELLE HAWKINSON. A pair of errors from the visitors helped Montclair climb back, making the margin 9-6, but the Mariners rattled off the game's next three points to force a timeout from the Red Hawks. Coming out of the stoppage, two errors from the visitors made the gap four, but Merchant Marine would once again expand their lead with four of the next five to make the score 16-9. The Red Hawks answered with seven of the next ten, capped off by a service ace from Saunders, to bring Montclair within three at 19-16. After the visitors reopened a six-point advantage later in the set, the Red Hawks battled back a 8-1 scoring run to take the lead at set point, 25-24. The two sides traded the next four points before Merchant Marine notched three in a row to clinch the stanza, 29-27.
- Montclair opened the third set with four of the first six, highlighted by a kill from Hawkinson and service ace from ALEENA WHITEHEAD. Merchant Marine battled back to within one at 7-6, and after an error followed by a Bautista kill, the visitors would tie the set at nine with three points in a row. Montclair reopened a two-point lead with a kill and service ace from Bautista, but the Mariners collected the game's next four to surge in front, 13-11. Hawkinson and Whitehead accounted for the next two to spark a 8-2 run from the home side, as Hawkinson would finish the stretch with four kills to force a timeout from Merchant Marine. Coming out of the break, Montclair added another pair of points to go up 21-15, but the Mariners countered with three in a row to force a timeout from the home side. The visitors would climb back as close as four, with the Red Hawks finishing off the set 25-20 on an error from the Mariners.
- The two sides exchanged the fourth set's first 12 points to an even 6-6 split before Montclair erupted for three in a row on a kill from BREANNA CRAIG followed by two from Hawkinson. Merchant Marine capitalized on an error on the resulting serve, but the Red Hawks tallied the game's next six points on a pair of kills from LUCY CORNELIUS to build a 15-7 advantage. The Mariners chipped away at the deficit over the next 10 points, trimming the gap to six as the set approached its final stages. A pair of attack errors granted Montclair a pair of points, and after the visitors answered with two of their own, the Red Hawks ended the fourth on a 4-0 spurt, highlighted by a pair of service aces from Saunders, to take the set 25-15 and force a deciding fifth frame.
- Montclair built a 6-3 lead in the final set as Craig tallied back-to-back kills, but the Mariners collected three in a row to level the contest at six. The Red Hawks broke the set open, rattling off seven consecutive points, finished off by two from Thomas to expand their lead to 13-6. Merchant Marine trimmed the deficit to five. Bautista hammered down the kill to get the Red Hawks into set point, and the night was finished off with DiProfio and Thomas, tag-teaming on a block to secure the win and Thomas' record.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Stawinski joins an elite group of just six coaches in Montclair State University athletic history to earn 300 wins for the Red Hawks.
- Thomas, who now stands at 252 block assists in her career, beat the record of 251 set by Natalia Majkut (2015-18). She finished her night with six total, one solo and five assisted blocks.
- Saunders, who picked up her 1000th dig, did so on the first one of the match. Her total includes her digs that she had in three seasons at Regent. She finished the night with a double-digit mark of 10.
- Hawkinson led the offense with a 15-kill effort tonight. That tied a career-high she had on Tuesday against Rowan.
- Cornelius compiled 41 assists to go along with five digs and three kills.
- DiProfio was efficient on her swings, marking an attack percentage of .316 and finished with eight kills.
FROM THE COURT
- "Proud of our effort tonight in pulling off this comeback win. We had a tough start to the match and both a combination of our play but also USMMA play. They played very aggressively and had us uncomfortable to start the match. I was proud of the way we responded and focused on our energy and communication. Once those two things improved, we settled into our game. Our hitters did a great job finishing the match hitting positive; we got good serving and defense down the stretch from Kasey, Erin, and Hayden, and we got a big boost from Leah and Rylee off the bench. Congratulations to Erin on reaching 1,000 career digs and Lily becoming the program leader in Block Assists!" Head Coach Eduardo Stawinski
UP NEXT
- Montclair will wrap up its NJAC regular season at home against Ramapo on Tuesday, November 3. The match is set for a 7:00 p.m. showdown.
