WICHITA - A career match from Chelsey Potter pushed the Newman volleyball team past the defending Heartland Conference champions from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin in a five-set thriller Saturday afternoon inside Fugate Gymnasium. Potter posted career-best numbers in kills (22) and attacks (55) in the Jets' win.

Newman 3, Texas-Permian Basin 2
Texas-Permian Basin (10-14, 4-2) rode a .294 hitting percentage, and forced the Jets to commit eight attack errors, on their way to a 25-20 first-set victory. The Falcons carried that momentum into the second set, jumping out to an 8-4 lead before senior Lauren Poe started a rally from the service line that saw four different Jets record kills, and saw the Jets take a 9-8 lead. Newman (6-15, 3-2) extended that lead to 13-10, and gave it up only once, when the Falcons took a 25-24 lead, but Newman was able to recover and tie the match with a 28-26 win.

The Falcons took advantage of 11 attack errors by the Jets, and hit at a .219 clip, earning a 25-17 win in the third set, but the Jets were far from finished. Newman jetted out to a 5-1 lead in the fourth set, and took control of the match from there. The Jets extended their lead to 18-8, and maintained at least an eight-point margin through the rest of the set, winning 25-16 and forcing a decisivie fifth set.

UTPB took a determined approach into the fifth set, soaring to a 7-3 lead in the 15-point set, but the Jets raced back in no time, mounting a 6-1 rally to take a 9-8 lead, and forcing Falcon coach Steve Aicinena to call a timeout. The Jets weren't phased by the timeout, increasing their lead to 11-8, and eventually stretched the margin to 14-10. UTPB scored the next three points, but it wasn't enough as a Sarah Bailey kill ended the threat, and sealed the win for Newman with a 15-13 final set win.

Potter's 22 kills led all attackers in the match. The junior added 16 kills for her second-consecutive double-double, and her fifth double-double of the season. Lauren Poe also posted her second-consecutive double-double with a 13-kill, 11-dig effort. Freshmen Sarah Bailey and Brittany Krantwashl also had career-best matches. Bailey finished with a career-best 17 kills and 47 attacks, while Krantwashl tied her career high with 10 kills.

Arkansas-Fort Smith 3, Newman 0
Newman (6-16) got a taste of what to expect when Arkansas-Fort Smith (19-3) earns full Heartland Conference membership next season, as the Lions swept the Jets, 3-0 (25-12, 25-16, 25-18), in Saturday's finale.

Potter continued her hot streak, leading all attackers with 11 kills, and added six digs to lead the Jets with teammate Angie Bennett, who also earned six digs. As a team, the Jets hit just .094, while the Lions posted a .298 hitting percentage, fueled by Jettie Stec who recorded seven kills on 11 attack attempts for a .636 hitting percentage. UAFS's Keely Rivera led all defensive players with 16 digs, while her Lion teammate Lucia Najselova added 30 assists to lead all setters.

The Jets are back in action Tuesday when they host the Friends Falcons in a 7 p.m. match-up.