Montclair, NJ – Senior outside hitter LEAH HIGGINS collected 14 kills with classmate CARLY WATERMAN adding 10 kills, four aces, and six digs as Montclair State swept past Kean, 3-0 at the Panzer Athletic Center on Thursday evening.

Setter DELANEY ST. PIERRE recorded 32 assists, two kills, two aces and six digs as the Red Hawks (5-7, 2-1) knocked off the Cougars for the third straight meeting, 25-19, 25-10, and 25-19.

Kayla Thornton and Anne Beckmeyer had eight kills apiece for Kean (5-6, 2-1 NJAC).

Montclair trailed 10-8 in the opening set before putting together a four-point run that included a kill by Higgins and an ace from LEAH CHIPMAN for a 12-10 advantage. The Red Hawks maintained that small lead and later used a 9-2 burst to build a 22-14 lead with Waterman collecting four kills in the spurt. Kean closed within 22-18, however, Montclair State finished out the set with three of the last four points, including a St. Pierre kill for a 25-19 win and 1-0 lead in the match.

In the second set, MSU fell behind 2-1 but scored 10 of the next 11 points to build an eight-point lead. Waterman and VICTORIA TENNON notched two kills each staking the Red Hawks to an 11-3 advantage. Higgins and SKYLAR KOWALSKI combined on a block, growing the lead to 16-6 and the Red Hawks virtually put the set away with a 7-0 run for a commanding 24-8 lead. After Kean snapped that with two straight, Higgins put down a set from St. Pierre for the win, 25-19.

The third set saw the Red Hawks and Cougars battled back and forth. Tied at 11-11, GIANNA ARIAS and Higgins sandwiched kills around two Kean errors for a 15-11 advantage. Arias gave MSU an 18-13 lead with a kill, however, Thornton had a kill and block in a four-point run that closed the game to 18-17. Montclair ended it with seven of the final eight points. Waterman had a hand in five of those, posting two kills and two aces before setting up Kowalski on match point.

Arias (three blocks) added seven kills with Kowalski adding five and two blocks. KATELYN MONAGHAN led all players with 19 digs.

Montclair State is back in action on Saturday, September 25 with a pair of matches in Wilkes-Barre, PA. The Red Hawks take on John Jay at 1:00 pm followed by a 3:00 pm contest against host Wilkes.