FORT SMITH, Ark. – The Newman volleyball team's season came to a close with a 3-1 (26-24, 21-25, 25-18, 25-20) loss to St. Edward's on Friday (Nov. 14) at the Stubblefield Center. The Lady Jets dropped to 15-14 on the season, and the Hilltoppers moved to 19-7. In her final match, senior Shelby Zoglman totaled a match-high 13 kills and hit .480.
 
In the first set, NU went on a 4-0 run to go in front 12-8, forcing SEU to take a timeout. The Hilltoppers battled back to tie the score at 13-13. With the score tied at 21-21, the Lady Jets tallied three straight points to get set point at 24-21. SEU went on a 5-0 run to steal set one, 26-24. After back-to-back errors from NU, the Hilltoppers totaled three-straight kills to get the win.
 
Trailing 15-14 in the second set, the Lady Jets went on a 9-1 run to take a commanding 23-16 advantage. Shelby Zoglman, Jarin Braithwait, Kayla Turner, Emily Harvey and Alexis Roecker all had kills during the spurt. The Hilltoppers also had three straight attack errors during the run. NU went on to win the set, 25-21.
 
In the third set, SEU held a slight 13-11 lead then they went on a 4-0 run to take a 17-11 advantage. After three straight NU points, the Hilltoppers scored four of five points for a 21-15 score. Turner got back-to-back NU points on a kill and a service ace, but SEU ended the set with a 4-0 run to win 25-18.
 
The fourth set was close at 18-17 after two straight NU points. Four points in a row for SEU gave them control of the set at 22-17. The deficit was too much for the Lady Jets to overcome as they fell 25-20 in the fourth and 3-1 in the match.
 
Zoglman tallied a match-high 13 kills and a .480 hitting percentage. Ashley Gonzalez added 12 kills, but had eight errors for a .114 hitting percentage. Kayla Turner totaled nine kills and eight digs. Lexi Kuharich and Alexis Litts each finished with double-doubles. Kuharich had 19 assists and 22 digs. Litts had 22 assists and 17 digs. Anna Burton totaled 22 digs.
 
For the match, NU hit .126, including .220 in the second set. After winning that set, the Lady Jets hit only .074 and .082, respectively, in the third and fourth sets.
 
Hannah Rauch of SEU tallied 11 kills. A trio of Hilltoppers had 10 digs: Mary Koehler, Katie Martin and Elissa Stanton. Kelly Jimenez dug up a match-high 39 balls. Loren Kelly totaled a match-high 24 assists.
 
The Hilltoppers finished the match with a .164 hitting percentage. They totaled 51 kills and 19 errors on 195 attempts. Stanton hit a team-high .280.
 
NU advanced to the Heartland Conference Tournament for the first time since 2010. The Lady Jets tied the NCAA Division II season high for wins with 15, and finished with their first back-to-back winning seasons in NCAA Division II history.