POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – Senior captain Sara Ehnstrom led all players with 12 kills for a .385 attacking percentage, but the Vassar women's volleyball team was unable to overcome Montclair State University. The Brewers fell to the Red Hawks on Saturday afternoon by a 3-0 (25-23, 25-9, 25-22) margin.

Montclair State moves to 19-10 on the season, while the Brewers finish their 2021 campaign with a 7-12 record. Vassar also honored its five graduating seniors in a pre-match ceremony, including Ehnstrom, Claire Basler-Chang, Camille Donald, Jamie Kesten and Madison Wilson.

Ehnstrom, who made just two errors on 26 total attempts, also finished with an assist, a service ace and a squad-best nine digs. Rookie Morgan Miller added five kills with a service ace and five digs, while classmate Hailey Hayes posted four kills and six digs. Sophomore Ava Casalino notched a block solo and three block assists, while Wilson and rookie Molly Ardren finished with 12 and 15 assists, respectively.

For the Red Hawks, Leah Higgins led the way with 10 kills, adding a match-high four service aces, with a block assist and three digs. Gianna Arias added eight kills with just two errors on 15 total attempts for  a.400 hitting percentage. She also recorded a block solo and a match-best four block solos. Delaney St. Pierre led the match with 29 assists, adding three service aces and six digs, while Katelyn Monaghan had a match-high 17 digs.

Opening set action saw the Red Hawks jump out to a 6-3 following a kill from Skylar Kowalski. The Brewers rebounded quickly as a kill and a service ace from Donald, coupled with a pair of kills from Ehnstrom saw Vassar surge ahead by a 9-7 margin. An ace from St. Pierre later regained the MSU advantage (12-10), but five straight points, including two more kills from Ehnstrom saw Vassar grab the 15-12 edge.

The Brewers continued to hold the advantage as a kill from rookie Julia Hale made it a 23-22 edge, but the Red Hawks battled back as Higgins laid down a kill and a service ace as MSU capitalized on a final point error by Vassar for the 25-23 set win.

Montclair State came out strong in the second set, going up 8-2. The Brewers pulled the gap to 9-5 behind a kill from Miller, but a 10-1 run by the Red Hawks gave the visitors a commanding 20-7 edge. The Brewers benefited from an error and another kill from Miller, but MSU closed out the set with three straight points, including two aces from Monaghan for the 25-9 win and a 2-0 advantage.

It was a tight third set battle to open as the teams traded points back-and-forth. The Brewers took a 7-6 lead on an Ehnstrom strike, but the Red Hawks saw Higgins answer to tie it up at 7-all. Locked at 11-11, the Brewers took advantage of MSU errors, along with an Ehnstrom kill and a Miller ace to open a 15-11 lead.

The advantage held until the Brewers shouldered back-to-back attacking errors to allow MSU to tie it at 18-18. Vassar rebounded to make it 20-18, but three straight points saw Montclair regain the lead at 21-20. Unwilling to back down, Miller posted back-to-back kills to cut the Vassar deficit to 23-22, but errors proved costly as the Red Hawks closed out the match courtesy of a service and setting error by VC.