Montclair, NJ  - Senior Stephanie Kovacs collected 13 kills and Stockton University served up 17 aces as the Ospreys swept Montclair State in the New Jersey Athletic Conference opener for both teams on Tuesday evening.

Stockton took the match 25-10, 25-19 and 25-17.

Freshman Emily Sullivan had 20 assists and seven aces as the Ospreys (8-1, 1-0 NJAC) posted their seventh straight victory and gained a small of revenge against MSU (4-3, 0-1 NJAC). Montclair rallied from two sets down in the semifinals of the 2016 NJAC Tournament to beat Stockton, ending the Ospreys run of eight consecutive league titles.
Junior NATALIA MAJKUT had five kills and four blocks for the Red Hawks, who had their two-match win streak stopped.

Stockton stormed out of the gate with the first five points of the match and recorded a four-point run later in the set for a 19-9 advantage. Sarah Walsh bookended a six-point run as Stockton jumped to 1-0 lead with a 25-10 victory. Kovacs had five kills with Alice Brandt serving four aces, including three in the 6-0 run to end the set.

The second set would be much closer and was tied at 12-12 before Stockton pulled away with a seven-point run. Sullivan had two aces in the spurt as the lead swelled to 19-12. Montclair did get within 24-19 however Franceska Gustave and Allie Desmond came up with a block on set point helping the visitors to a two-set lead with the 25-19 triumph.

Montclair would take a 4-1 lead early in the third however a four-point run wiped out that lead. Back and forth the two went as the set was knotted up nine times. The last came a 12-12 however scored the next four points to take control. Kovacs had the final kill in the run and the lead grew to 20-13 after Desmond finished off a feed from Brandt. Kovacs, who committed just two errors in 29 attempts and hit .379 finished off the match as Stockton took the set and match with a 25-17 win.

Walsh finished with five kills and three digs. Natalie Miller led all players with 12 digs with Desmond totaling six kills.

JILLIAN WILSON led the Red Hawks with six kills while SCHYLER WHITE added four. ASHLEY GRIFFITH had 19 assists and six digs while Apri DiAngelo collected seven digs. ALEXANDRA CAMPOS and LILY SCANZILLO had six digs apiece with CAITLIN LANGE registering five blocks.

Montclair State returns to action on Saturday, September 16 with a tri-match at the Panzer Athletic Center. The Red Hawks take on Lehman College at 11:00 am and face Vassar College at 3:00 pm.