Newark, NJ (11/02/04) - Sophomore middle hitter HEATHER ACIZ hammered down 16 dills while her older sister TIFFANY ACIZ added 11 kills and a match-high 27 digs as Montclair State shocked defending conference champion Rutgers-Newark, 30-28, 16-30, 22-30, 35-33, 15-12 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference quarterfinal round in The Golden Dome.

The Red Hawks (8-24) advance to the semifinal round at No. 2 seeded Richard Stockton at 7 o'clock on Thursday night. It will be the second meeting between the team in nine days. The Ospreys handed Montclair a 3-0 loss in the regular-season finale on October 26.

It was the Red Hawks' first win in the NJAC Tournament since 2000.

MSU also avenged and earlier loss to the Scarlet Raiders this season - a 3-0 defeat at home back on September 21.

Trailing in games 2-1 and 33-32, the Red Hawks faced a match point, however, they remained alive as KELLY MCGUIRE put down on of her four kills in the match to tie the game. Montclair then forced the fifth game as Rutgers-Newark committed two errors.

In the deciding contest, HEATHER ACIZ collected a kill to put Montclair State ahead 13-12 and TIFFANY ACIZ followed with another as the Red Hawks served for the match. On the final serve, the Scarlet Raiders knocked the ball into the net- their 35th attack error of the match.