Montclair, NJ (10/23/09)  - Montclair State and Centenary College each posted perfect 2-0 marks on Day 1 of the MSU Classic at the Panzer Athletic Center on Friday evening. The Red Hawks and Cyclones each swept their respective opponents as MSU downed John Jay and Brooklyn College while Centenary knocked off Manhattanville College and Brooklyn. In the final match of the day, Manhattanville defeated John Jay College in four sets.

Senior Karen Martin (Sicklerville, NJ / Washington Township) led the way for MSU as she collected 21 kills in the matches, including a .643 hitting percentage in the win over Brooklyn. Martin had 11 kills, two service aces and two digs as MSU beat John Jay 25-17, 25-12, 25-17. Senior Anna Chesnakova (East Brunswick, NJ / East Brunswick) added 10 kills while libero Meghan Stevens (Woodcliff Lake, NJ / Pascack Hills) recorded a match-high 11 digs along with three service aces. Sophomore setter Michelle Del Valle (Teaneck, NJ / Memorial) added 23 assists with freshman Jenna Totaro (Secaucus, NJ / Secaucus) collecting 11. Kara Burnham (Moorestown, NJ / Moorestown) had seven kills with Christine Toskovich (Garfield, NJ / Garfield) and Sam Karpinski (Hackensack, NJ / Hackensack) each contributing six kills apiece.

Justyna Kopec (Nowa Deba, Poland)/Franklin D. Roosevelt) had eight kills and seven digs for John Jay while Erica Lee (New York, NY / Seward Park) recorded 12 assists. Libero Katherine Higuera-McCoy (Jamiaca, NY / St. Francis Prep) added nine digs.

Martin had 10 kills and five digs as MSU (10-11) completed it two-match sweep downing Brooklyn College 25-8, 25-19, 25-14. Karpinski had nine kills and six digs with Chesnakova added eight kills and three solo blocks. Burnham, who had four kills, served up six of Montclair’s 16 aces in the match. Totaro and Del Valle posted 13 and nine assists, respectively.

Caitlin McMullen (Brooklyn, NY / Midwood) and Joy Rotstein (Brooklyn, NY / Ezra Academy) had three kills apiece for the Bridge. Ezgi Ozdemir (Brooklyn, NY / Abraham Lincoln) registered six assists.

Centenary swept past Manhattanville in its first match of the day 25-17, 25-15, 25-21 behind freshman Jalena Markovic (Brcko, Bosnia / The Economic School), who had 16 kills and 16 assists in the match. Devon Paffendorf (Hackettstown, NJ / Mount Olive) had seven kills while Angelica Ruiz (Bergenfield, NJ / Bergenfield) added three kills and 15 assists. Libero Kelsey Walter (Hackettstown, NJ / Hackettstown) got 17 digs with Kelly Zegarowitz (Bayonne, NJ / Bayonne) contributing five kills and eight digs.

Alex Zurek (Brooklyn, NY / Poly Prep) had seven kills to lead the Valiants. Makana Gomes (Honolulu, Hawaii / ‘lolani) collected 14 assists.

Erika Chu (Galloway, NJ / Absegami) had nine kills and Sydney Eggleston (Spokane, Washington / Valley Christian School) eight as the Cyclones (11-14) defeated Brooklyn College 25-6, 25-13, 25-9. Iris Robinson (Monticello, NY / Monticello) had five kills and 11 digs for the Bridges (4-16).

Manhattanville would gain a split of its two matches as the Valiants dropped the first set to John Jay but took the next three for a 25-27, 25-10, 25-7, 25-17. Kelly Schlittenhardt (Islip, NY / Islip) had 13 kills and eight service aces with Zurek getting a match-best 16 kills and 13 digs. Gomes registered 33 assists for Manhattanville. 

Andrea Medina (Brentwood, NY / Brentwood) had four kills and 14 digs for John Jay.