GLASSBORO, NJ -- Rowan outlasted Kean, 3-1, in the semifinals of the 2021 NJAC Tournament Thursday night. Set scores were 25-21, 24-26, 25-23, and 25-21.

With the win, the top-seeded Profs advance to the NJAC Championship where the team will face Montclair State here this Saturday starting at 1 p.m.

Rowan used late scoring rallies to come back and take the third and fourth sets in dramatic fashion.

Leading the charge was Natalie Ogden, who ripped off a career-high 27 kills (which was two shy of tying the school record). She broke her own personal mark that she set when the two teams met last week at Kean. Ogden had just five errors, putting up a .400 hit percentage on 55 attempts. She had eight kills in each of those third and fourth sets to help propel the Profs into the title game looking to capture their seventh conference crown.

The match itself was a chess match, as both teams held no lead larger than five points and saw a total of 29 ties and 12 lead changes.

The Profs built a 7-3 lead in the first set, getting the score up to 15-10, before the Cougars rattled off six-straight to take its first lead. Rowan grinded out a 22-21 lead before three-straight points, including two big kills from Brianna Newson, closed out the 25-21 set.

Rowan looked to continue the momentum in the second set, jumping out to a 5-1 edge. However Kean battled back to tie things at 7-7 and later 12-12. The home team pulled ahead 21-19 but could not withstand a three-point spurt from the Cougars to win 26-24 and tie the match up at 1-1.

In the third set, the Profs had to play catch up, finally getting the score tied at 12-12 after a kill from Isabel Kirchner. After Kean built its lead back up to 21-16, Rowan started to get hot, netting five-straight to knot it up once again. The squad took down four of the next six points to rally for a 2-1 edge.

Kean put the Profs in a 17-12 hole in the fourth set before a game-changing 10-2 run to take a two-point lead capped with huge block from Kirchner and Courtney Rhoden. The Cougars put together two points in a row looking to force a fifth set, but Rowan answered with an ace from Ogden and two kills from Kirchner to put the wraps on the night.

Kirchner finished the evening with 12 kills. She and Rhoden each tallied five blocks (one solo each). Simone Sparano had a team-high 17 digs. Ogden added 16 for her 14th double-double this year. Setter Brooke Adams was a dig shy of her own double-digit night, as she added 51 assists.

For the Cougars, Ashley Smith led the visitors with 13 kills. Kayla Thornton added 12 and Anne Beckemeyer kicked in 10 kills and seven blocks (one solo).