Cougars Sweep Redhawks 3-0: Cougars open NJAC Play 1-0

By Dorian Alerte | Published September 28, 2023

Panzer Athletic Center was filled to the brim with students and family to watch the Kean Cougars take on the Montclair State University RedHawks in the women’s volleyball NJAC opener. The Cougars (5-6) silenced the crowd quickly as they secured the road sweep over the RedHawks (8-5) 3-0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-17) on Sept. 19. Here’s what you need to know:

• After trailing 5-3 early in the first set, the Cougars went on an 11-1 run before the RedHawks could score another point. 
• The Cougars hit .333 as a team, their highest mark as a team this season, and the ninth-highest across the NJAC.
• Junior outside hitter Taylor Micheaux logged a game-high 15 kills, including the second set winner off an assist from setter Aspen O’Brien.
• Freshman middle hitter Cayley Morrison posted a career-high 10 kills and 4 block assists.
• Sophomore setter Aspen O’Brien contributed with 31 of the team’s 41 assists.

“I was completely blown away by how well they overcame every shortcoming that happened,” assistant coach Jenna Lara said. “We moved seamlessly; it was like a well-oiled machine. When we made a couple of mistakes we would fix it right away, so I was very, very happy with them.”

Taylor Micheaux

Micheaux found a way to outdo her previous performance against the RedHawks from a season ago when she had nine kills and seven service aces, accounting for 17.0 points. This time she followed it up with 15 kills, a .433 hitting percentage, and another 15.5 points.

“We talk about, in practice, goals for our hitters, and typically for a pin hitter your goal on a game is to hit around .220,” Lara said. “Ms. Taylor hit .433 with 15 kills. That was more than I could have asked out of any one of my outside hitters.

The emergence of Cayley Morrison

The Cougars have seemingly found another middle blocker in freshman Cayley Morrison. Morrison has impressed the coaching staff with her performance and adds to the roster another player that the NJAC must deal with. Morrison started in the middle against the Redhawks and caused problems for the RedHawks all evening.

“It’s really exciting for me,” Morrison said. “But I know I want to do much better than that too. I want to strive higher.”

“When you watch Cayley play, I think you forget that she’s a freshman,” Lara said. “The progress that she’s already made, makes me very excited for the next couple of games and the next couple years. One of the best things about her is she wants to get better. She looks for critiques on everything that she does, and I love being able to coach players like that.”

Depth

Noticeably missing from the court were All-American middle, Anne Beckemeyer, and sophomore standout, Aubre Adams. That did not stop the Cougars, however, as they were able to use several players, including a combination of Julia Vacca and Morrison in the middle. 

“I really have to shout out Julia Vacca,” Lara said. “She was willing and ready to go and really helped us propel to that win.”

Playing under pressure with energy

The student section in Panzer Athletic Center was an environment that the Cougars had not played in yet. The arena was nearly sold out and the crowd made sure that their presence was felt. Every time the Cougars went to serve, the crowd was engaged. Every time the RedHawks made a big play, they cheered. The energy that they created was reciprocated by the Cougar bench.

“The energy was absolutely electrifying,” Lara said. “I thought that the Montclair fans were great. They filled that entire arena with energy, and I’ve told my girls every time they step foot in front of a big crowd, ‘Use this energy to your advantage, use this energy to bring you up’ and the bench took that. If they were clapping and trying to get into it, our bench started clapping and dancing and getting into it. It was truly the most fun atmosphere I probably have ever been involved in.”

The Cougars will travel on the road to play Hunter before returning home for their NJAC home opener when they will play the NJCU Gothic Knights on Sept. 26.

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