AUSTIN, Texas – The Newman volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 victory at St. Edward's on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 25) at the Recreation and Convocation Center. The Lady Jets won their third straight Heartland Conference match and fifth of their last six to move to 7-6 in the conference. They are fourth in the Heartland Conference standings.
 
NU dominated in the first and third set, winning 25-18, 27-25, 25-16. The Lady Jets hit .247 for the match, including .432 in the final set. SEU hit .140 for the three sets.
 
The first set was close to start with SEU holding a slight 9-8 edge. The Lady Jets then went on a 7-0 run with kills from Ashley Gonzalez and Lexi Kuharich. The Hilltoppers had three errors during the run and a bad set. After two SEU points, NU went on another run, this time a 5-0 spurt. Gonzalez started it off with a kill and Gaylynn Jones kept it going with a kill. Two errors from the Hilltoppers made it 19-11 for NU, and SEU took a timeout. A Tori Provencio service ace put the Lady Jets in front 20-11. NU went on to win the set, 25-18, on three straight Jarin Braithwait kills.
 
In the second set, the Lady Jets started fast and held on for a 27-25 victory. NU started the set with a 4-0 lead after kills from Provencio, Braithwait and Kuharich plus an Anna Burton ace. SEU closed the gap and took a slight advantage at 11-9. The Lady Jets scored the next six points to regain the lead at 15-11. Gonzalez and Jones combined for five kills in the run. With NU up 21-17, SEU went on a 5-1 run to tie the score at 22-22. Back-to-back points from the Lady Jets gave them set point at 24-22; however, SEU tied the score again at 24-24. With the score knotted at 25-25, NU got the final two points for the 27-25 set win.
 
NU used a late run in the third set to pull away for a 25-16 win. With the Lady Jets holding a slight 15-13 edge, they ended the set with a 10-3 run to win 25-16. Shelby Zoglman started the run with back-to-back kills. Gonzalez put down two kills and Emily Harvey, Jones and Braithwait all added kills during the run. The Lady Jets hit .432 in the final set.
 
Jarin Braithwait led the way with 14 kills, hitting .364. Gaylynn Jones added 11 kills, and Ashley Gonzalez hit a match-high .421 with 10 kills on only 19 attempts. Lexi Kuharich tallied another double-double with a match-high 35 assists and 17 digs. Anna Burton had a team-high 21 digs.
 
SEU was led by Hannah Rauch with 11 kills, and Kelly Jimenez with 36 digs, a match high.
 
The Lady Jets return home for three matches next week, their final three home contests. NU takes on Bacone College on Tuesday (Oct. 28) at 7 p.m. at Fugate Gymnasium.