WICHITA - The Newman volleyball team gave its fans a glimpse of just how good they could be this season, but a late charge by St. Edward's was enough to push the Hilltoppers to a 3-2 win over the Jets Thursday night in Fugate Gymnasium. Newman won the first two sets in convincing fashion before St. Edward's rallied to win the final three sets.

Newman (5-7, 2-1 Heartland) came out on fire to open the match. The Jets racked up 17 kills on 27 attempts with just four errors to hit .481 on their way to a 25-16 first set win. The Jets followed suit in the second set, putting up 17 more kills on the defending Heartland Conference champions on their way to a 25-17 win that gave Newman a 2-0 advantage in the match.

St. Edward's (7-5, 3-0 Heartland) woke up in the third set, cutting the Newman hitting percentage to just .167 en route to a 25-17 third-set win that narrowed Newman's lead to 2-1. All indications in the fourth set indicated that Newman had the match in hand. The Jets pushed their hitting percentage up to .343 behind 16 kills on 35 attempts, but a late rally, sparked by nine-straight Hilltopper points, took the wind out of the Newman sails as St. Edward's evened the match with a 25-21 win. The Hilltoppers carried that momentum into the final set on their way to a 15-9 win to hand Newman its first home loss of the season.

Senior Chelsey Potter led the Jets offensive attack with 18 kills, and was one of three Jets with 10-or-more kills in the match. Junior Karol Marins added 14 kills, while sophomore Sarah Bailey posted 10 kills. Freshman Lyndsey Martini was Newman's leading setter in the match, posting a career-high 48 assists. Defensively, junior libero Kristen White recorded 19 digs, while Martini added 12.

Ashley Vander Hey led the Hilltoppers with 15 kills, while Chelsea Barsamian was SEU's leading setter with 44 assists.

With the loss, Newman falls to 5-7 on the season, and 2-1 in Heartland Conference play. They will return to action Saturday, hosting Dallas Baptist in a 12 p.m. contest at Fugate Gymnasium. DBU dropped a 3-0 decision at Arkansas-Fort Smith Thursday night.