JOPLIN, Mo. - The Tessa Jones era started off slowly over the weekend, as the Newman volleyball season was dealt a four-game sweep at the Missouri Southern Volleyball Invitational in Joplin, Mo. After dropping a four-set decision to Quincy in Friday's opener, the Jets suffered back-to-back sweeps to Harding and Central Oklahoma before ending the tournament with a five-set loss to Missouri Southern.

Game 1: Quincy 3, Newman 1 (25-17, 21-25, 25-21, 25-15)
Both squads suffered some first-match jitters, posting negative attack percentages in the opening set, which Quincy claimed with a 25-17 win to take a 1-0 lead. Newman countered with a 25-21 second-set win to tie the match at 1-1. The Hawks re-claimed the momentum of the match in the third set, holding off the Jets for a 25-21 third-set win, then put the Jets away for good with a 25-15 win in the decisive fourth set.

Jeana Farruggia and Haley Dotson each finished with eight kills in the match, while Katelyn Schmidtberger dished out 20 assists. Kristen White recorded 20 digs for the Jets, who hit .109 in the contest, posting 34 kills with 22 errors on 110 attack attemtps.

Game 2: Harding 3, Newman 0 (25-13, 25-13, 25-17)
Harding took complete control of the match in the first set, then cruised to a three-set sweep of the Jets in Friday's finale. The Bison hit .417 in the opening set, while limiting Newman to a .133 attack percentage in the opener. Harding went on to hold Newman to negative attack percentages in the final two sets to earn the sweep.

Katelyn Schmidtberger led the Newman offense with five kills and five assists. Gabby Loxterman dished out seven assists, while Kristen White cleaned the floor with 12 digs.

Game 3: Central Oklahoma 3, Newman 0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-21)
Newman's second day at the MSSU Volleyball Invitational opened on a slightly higher note, but Central Oklahoma was able to put Newman away down the stretch en route to the sweep.

Katelyn Schmidtberger and Allison Bailey each finished with 10 kills to lead the Jets offensively. Schmidtberger added 15 assists, two short of Gabby Loxterman's 17 assist effort. Just like she did in Friday's opener, Kristen White finished with a team-high 20 digs.

Game 4: Missouri Southern 3, Newman 2 (20-25, 27-29, 25-22, 25-18, 15-9)
Newman saw two-set lead slip away late in the match, and dropped its first five-set decision of the season to the hosts from Missouri Southern. The Jets hit .214 in the match, finishing with 56 kills and 25 errors on 145 attach attempts while falling to 0-4 on the season.

Jeana Farruggia finished with a match-high 20 kills while Haley Dotson posted a 15-kill, 11-dig double-double. Gabby Loxterman led Newman with 26 assists, and added 14-digs for a double-double of her own, while Kristen White's 19 digs was a team-high.

After the weekend, Newman falls to 0-4 on the season. They will return to action Tuesday, hosting arch-rival Friends in a 7 p.m. contest at Fugate Gymnasium.