Since 2018, Montgomery College has built a solid volleyball roster every year. They’re projected to make their seventh consecutive Region 20 DII Tournament. This steady increase in success began in the program’s one and only undefeated season, back in 2018, in which they made it all the way to the NJCAA Region XX DII Tournament Final where they lost 3-1 to the NOVA (Northern Virginia) Nighthawks.

The following season, a new team was added to The Raptors’ schedule, and they’ve proven to be a problem for the Raptors ever since. The Monroe University Mustangs are a prolific program that MC’s been tasked with playing against 12 times over the last six seasons (including this one.)

Monroe’s come out on top in each of these 12 matchups, and aside from one match, it hasn’t been particularly close. MC’s only taken 3 sets out of 39 and have an average point difference (PD) of -27.25 against the Mustangs.

The single match in which MC held their ground was just last year, in which the Raptors won the third set 25-23, as well as keeping the second and fourth set within 2 and 4 points, respectively.

Following the Sept. 20 CSM tri-match, assistant coach Daniel Smith said:

“We’ve gotten better and really do want to make Nationals, but the school to beat is Monroe. They’re always a powerhouse, but last year we were able to take a set from them, we’ll see what happens next time we play them.”

The time is approaching, as the Raptors face off against the Mustangs at home on Friday, Oct. 3 at 6 p.m. where they’ll look to not only extend their current 10-match win streak, but take vengeance on this powerhouse.