New York, NY – The women's volleyball team split a home tri-match earlier today. In the opener, they fell to Montclair State in five but then bounced back and edged Mount Saint Mary, 3-2. The split moves their overall record to 9-10.
 
Game 1 vs. Montclair State (L 2-3 | 25-17, 25-16, 20-25, 20-25, 12-15)
 
The Hawks squared off against Montclair State in the first match of the day and despite jumping out to a two set lead, wound up falling by a final score of 3-2. Maripaz Lojano had 13 kills on the day while Justine Smith produced nine service aces and 31 assists. Defensively, the Purple and Gold three players with double-digit digs, led by Erin Hyman with 18.
 
Hunter hit an impressive .250 and .242 in the opening two sets with just eight errors on 57 attempts. They rallied from an early 6-2 hole in the first set and used a late 7-0 run which ultimately gave them the 1-0 lead. In the second, they jumped out to an insurmountable 11-2 upper-hand and did not allow their opponents to get to within six the rest of the set. In both the third and fourth sets, Montclair had late surges and capitalized on Hunter errors to knot the match at 2-2.
 
Finally, in the fifth and deciding set, a kill from Beverly Wong put an end to four unanswered Montclair points and cut the deficit to four. A visitor attack error made it a 14-12 affair with Hunter still in the hole, but Carly Waterman hammered home the final kill to serve Hunter the 3-2 loss.
 
Game 2 vs. Mount Saint Mary (W 3-2 | 25-17, 18-25, 25-12, 19-25, 15-10)
 
It appeared that the match would be played fairly even on both ends, but it did not take long before Hunter flexed their offensive muscles, turning a three point cushion into a 13 point upperhand in the first. Mount Saint Mary's, down and facing set point, rallied for six unanswered but it was too little too late as Hunter came away with the 25-17 set victory.
 
It was a different story in the second with the Knights grabbing the first point and never looking back. Hunter was able to pull within three late in the set at 20-17 but the visitors ended with a 5-1 run to knot the match at 1-1. In the third, the Purple and Gold held a 16-11 advantage until Mariam Ouattara started and finished a 9-0, set-ending run with clean kills to give Hunter the 25-12 win and 2-1 lead.
 
Facing a seven-point deficit in the fourth at 14-7, Head Coach Andrew Woolward's squad clawed their way back to within two late in the game at 21-19. However, two Knight kills coupled with two Hunter attack errors set the stage for a fifth and deciding match after a resulting 25-19 fourth set outcome.
 
Facing their second straight five-set match, Hunter  took control from the get-go and never looked back. They held on to a 12-9 lead and brought home the win with an Alexa Sayson kill to put the nail in the coffin, 15-10.
 
Hunter had two with double digit kills, led by Ouattara with 13 and Lojano with 10. Smith was the game high assist earner with 41 while on the defensive end, the Purple and Gold had five in double digit digs, led by Hyman with 22.
 
The squad returns to action on Thursday, October 21 when they travel to Brooklyn, NY for a non-conference contest against St. Joseph's College. First serve is scheduled for 6:30 pm.