NJAC Tournament semifinals:
Stockton 3, Rowan 0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-15)

Stephanie Warner

Boxscore
Top-seeded Richard Stockton (24-7) advanced to the NJAC championship match with a 25-15, 25-22, 25-15 sweep of fourth-seeded Rowan (17-14) in the conference semifinals. With the win, the Ospreys took a step on the road to their third straight NJAC championship. Stephanie Warner (Totowa/ Passaic Valley) and Kasey Hennecke (Fair Lawn/Fair Lawn) led Stockton to victory with nine kills apiece while Laura Hausman (Bethlehem PA/Catasauqua) dished 28 assists.

Hennecke powered Stockton to a 25-15 victory in the first set with four kills and Hausman dished 11 assists in directing the Osprey attack. Rowan battled in the second set, but Stockton prevailed with three spikes apiece from Hennecke, Christine Velott (Moorestown/Moorestown) and Nicole Serekian (Mahwah/Mahwah). The Ospreys snapped a 22-22 tie by winning the last three points to take the set 25-22.

Stockton pulled away in the third set, opening up a 10-3 lead. The Ospreys’ advantage increased to 11 points at 20-9 and they closed out the match 25-15 for their seventh consecutive win. Middle hitters Warner and Tabitha Nejman (Runnemede/Our Lady of Mercy) led the way with five and four kills respectively. Christine Astarita (Selden, NY/ Newfield) led the Stockton defense with a team-high 20 digs in the victory.