Montclair, NJ (9/14/04) – The Montclair State University volleyball team was swept tonight by visiting Rutgers-Newark, 3-0, at Panzer Gymnasium in the New Jersey Athletic Conference season opener for both teams. The final individual game scores were 30-22, 31-29 and 30-15.

Rutgers-Newark improved to 3-4 overall on the year, while MSU lost its fifth straight match in falling to 3-6 this fall.

Junior setter Melissa Strom paced the visiting Scarlet Raiders with 26 assists, 16 digs and four service aces, while senior blocker Sharon Guise led Rutgers-Newark with eight kills. Freshman hitter Allison Becker posted 14 digs, five kills, three blocks, three assists and two aces, while sophomore libero Jessica Kleeman notched 10 digs.

Senior hitter TIFFANY ACIZ led Montclair State with 18 digs and nine kills, and also added five assists. Sophomore setter ELYSE GRYWALSKI led MSU with 15 assists, while sophomore hitter HEATHER ACIZ collected 11 digs and five kills, and classmate ASIA LIVINGSTON registered 10 digs and three kills.

Rutgers-Newark raced out to a14-6 lead in the opener, only to see MSU come back to within 20-16 before the Scarlet Raiders pulled away with four straight points. The Red Hawks actually held a 29-28 lead and match point in Game Two, but Rutgers-Newark scored the next three points to take its second contest of the night. The Scarlet Raiders then closed out the evening by racing out to a 19-9 lead in the finale en route to sweeping MSU for the third straight meeting.

MSU returns to action at the University of Scranton (PA) Tournament on Sept. 17-18, while Rutgers-Newark hosts Rowan University in an NJAC match on Sept. 21.