Box Score

MONTCLAIR, N.J. – The William Paterson volleyball team (21-12) saw its season come to an end with a 3-0 loss at Montclair State (20-14) in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Tournament first round Oct. 30.


The Red Hawks defeated the Pioneers, 30-27, 30-15, 30-25. William Paterson scored six of the first seven points in the opening game and led 13-3 as Montclair committed a setting error. The Red Hawks then chipped away at the lead, getting within 18-14 on a kill by Kara Burnham. Tamara Miller (Maplewood, N.J./Columbia) pushed the lead back to 19-14 with a kill for WP, and the Pioneers maintained the advantage when Kelly Helfrich (Clark, N.J./Arthur L. Johnson) put down her fourth kill to make the score 26-22. But, Montclair State ran off the next four points to tie the game at 26-26 as Anna Chesnakova and Christine Toskovich combined on a block. Samantha Reed (Dumont, N.J./Dumont) put WP up one more time with a kill, but Chesnakova countered a kill to deadlock the game again. The Pioneers would commit back-to-back attack errors to give Montclair its first lead of the game, and the Red Hawks grabbed the 1-0 match lead as Chesnakova recorded her sixth kill of the opening contest.


The second game would be a reversal from the first as Montclair State moved out to an 11-4 advantage on a kill by Karen Martin. William Paterson would trim the lead back to 11-7 as Helfrich served up an ace, however Montclair would widen its lead to 19-11 as Meghan Stevens added an ace of her own. Burnham and Chesnakova would each add two kills as Montclair State led 28-15. After a WPU attack error, Raisa Silva closed out the game with an ace as the Red Hawks went up two games.


In the third game, Burnham had three kills, including one to give MSU a 6-2 lead. From there the teams battled within four points until Toskovich put down a kill to give Montclair State a 24-19 lead. Helfrich would answer with two kills to close the gap to 24-22, but Karen Martin, Burnham and Devon Johnston each registered a kill as the lead was restored to 26-22. Johnston's sixth kill of the game brought the Red Hawks to match point, however Dana Hansen (Fair Lawn, N.J./Fair Lawn) kept the Pioneers alive with her fourth kill of the match. A Montclair attack error made the score 29-25, but Chesnakova closed out the match with her 12th and final kill.


Helfrich had 10 kills and eight digs, while Miller posted a team-best 16 digs. Hansen posted 11 assists and 11 digs, and Reed contributed 13 digs for the Pioneers.