MONTCLAIR – The Mount Saint Mary College Women’s Volleyball team returned to action on Saturday and dropped a 19-25, 9-25, 17-25 road decision at Montclair State. Freshman Grace Riddle led the team with six kills, while Renee Hydo and Danielle Kralik totaled five winners.
After the Knights grabbed a 7-5 lead on a Sabrina Romano kill, Montclair State used a six point run to surge in front for good in the opening set. The Red Hawks hit a blistering .423 in the opening frame, committing just one attack error in 26 attempts.
Montclair State opened the second frame with five of the first six points and closed the middle stanza on an 11-2 run to pull in front 2-0 in the match. Montclair State continued its efficient attack with 10 kills while hitting .364 in the second set.
The Red Hawks closed out the sweep in the third frame, taking advantage of nine Mount Saint Mary attack errors. Montclair State used a pair of six point runs to open a 19-5 lead and after the Mount strung together five straight points to pull to within 21-15, the red Hawks scored four of the final six points to close out the victory.
Riddle put away six kills for the Mount and added two service aces, five digs and a block. Hydo and Kralik each totaled five kills, with Hydo adding four digs and an ace and Kralik lifting five digs for the Knights.
Freshman Fran Cammarata led the Knights with 10 assists, while sophomore Alyssa Barbara lifted a team-high 11 digs to go along with six assists and a block.
Montclair State was led by seven kills from Gianna Arias who added five blocks to the win. Megan O’Rourke led all players with 18 assists for the Red Hawks and Maddie Valko posted a match-high 13 digs.
Montclair State finished the day with a 31-21 advantage in kills and also held the edge in aces 11-7 and total team blocks 7-2. The Red Hawks hit .278 as a team in the victory, while the Mount converted at -.023.
At 3-6 overall on the season, Mount Saint Mary will begin Skyline Conference play on Wednesday when it travels to Purchase. First serve with the Panthers is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.