WICHITA – Newman volleyball forced conference foe Texas-Permian Basin to a five-set match Thursday night at Fugate Gymnasium. The Jets started the night with a bang; found it again in the fourth set but could not produce enough in the fifth-losing the match, 3-2.

Freshman Dana Shannon started the Jets off on a positive note in the first set of the match against the Falcons. Shannon scored the first point with a service ace. Five kills from senior Katelyn Schmidtberger and 11 assists from junior Gabby Loxterman help lead Newman to a 25-21 victory in the first set.

Schmidtberger's seven kills were not enough for the Jets as they lost 25-20 in the second set.

The Jets were not clicking in the third set as they committed five errors, had a .162 attack percentage with only 11 attacks. Falcons took the match lead, 2-1 with a 25-18 third set victory.

In the fourth set, after the Jets gave up a five-point lead coach Tessa Jones called a timeout. Newman came back after that holding the Falcons to a .083 attack percentage and forcing them to commit eight errors leading to a 25-22 fourth set win.

The match was now tied 2-2, the student section in Fugate Gymnasium was ecstatic; the energy was running throughout the gym as the back and forth rallying persisted in the final set. As the Falcons readied for the first set point, 14-13 Newman took a productive timeout coming back with a senior Haley Dotson kill followed by a junior Belinda Rohling kill. It wasn't enough as the Falcons took advantage of two attacks errors ending the final set 17-15.

Junior Hannah Melichar finished the night with 13 kills. Setter Loxterman dished out 48 assists while Schmidtberger had 23 kills and 16 digs.

Currently, the overall record is 1-4 for the Jets, beginning Heartland Conference play 0-1. Newman will host the McMurry Hawks Saturday, September 8 with a 12 p.m. start.