Box Score 

MONTCLAIR, N.J. – Top-seeded Montclair State (14-15) earned a trip to the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Volleyball Tournament championship match with a 25-16, 25-15, 25-22 victory against fourth-seeded William Paterson (21-8) in the semifinals Nov. 5.

Senior middle blocker Kara Bunrham collected nine kills, while senior outside hitter Adrianne Moe added six kills, five aces and six digs for the Red Hawks. Senior Karen Martin added seven kills and 10 digs.

The NJAC Player of the Year, senior Kelly Helfrich (Clark, N.J./Arthur L. Johnson) had a match-high 13 kills along with 14 digs for William Paterson.

In the opening set, the Red Hawks never trailed and scored 11 of the set's first 14 points. Leading 2-1, Montclair scored the next four points as Burnham and Martin posted kills, while the Pioneers committed two ball-handling errors. Back-to-back blocks by senior Anna Chesnakova made the score 10-3 and setter Michelle Del Valle served up an ace as MSU led by eight at 11-3. William Paterson only get as close as seven the rest of the way and Martin ended the first set with an ace as the Red Hawks went up 1-0 with the 25-16 win.

The momentum stayed in Montclair's favor into the second set as the Red Hawks jumped out to a 12-1 lead and led 16-4 as Chesnakova put down a Del Valle set. Consecutive aces by Amanda Mitchell (Secaucus, N.J./Secaucus) and a kill by Helfrich trimmed the deficit back to 16-8, but Chesnakova triggered a five-point run as Montclair went back up 21-8 and took a two-set lead with a 25-15 triumph.

The third set proved to be quite a contrast from the first two as the teams traded the first 12 points before William Paterson took a 9-7 lead on the third of six kills in the set by Helfrich. Montclair would tie the match up at 11-11, and the two remained close until WP used a three-point run to go in front, 19-14. Trailing by five, the Red Hawks would respond with a five-point run, tying the match at 20-20 on a kill by Moe. An attack error by MSU gave the Pioneers a 21-20 advantage, but Burnham tied the set for the 11th time with a kill. After an attack error, Moe collected her sixth ace as Montclair State led, 23-21. Del Valle would get Montclair to match point before Samantha Karpinski closed it out with a kill as Montclair advanced to its fourth NJAC championship match with the three-set win.

Del Valle finished with 29 assists for MSU, which got four kills apiece from Karpinski and Chesnakova. Libero Meghan Stevens, the NJAC Defensive Player of the Year, had a match-best 18 digs, with Chesnakova also contributing five total blocks.

Junior Michelle Leeder (Ridgefield, N.J./Ridgefield Memorial) added five kills and eight digs for William Paterson, which got 13 assists, 14 digs and three kills from setter Megan Maher (Wood-Ridge, N.J./Wood-Ridge). Mitchell registered 14 digs.