ODESSA, Texas – The Newman volleyball fell to Texas-Permian Basin in four sets, 3-1, in the Lady Jets first road conference match of the season on Thursday (Sept. 11) at the Falcon Dome. NU dropped to 3-4 and 1-2 in the Heartland Conference.
 
The Lady Jets dropped the first two sets. In the first set, UTPB started fast with a 6-2 advantage. Trailing 8-4, the Lady Jets went on an 8-1 run to take a 12-9. From there it was all UTPB as they ended the set with a 16-6 run. With NU down 15-14, eight of the next nine points to take a 23-15 lead. After three NU points, the Falcons closed out the set with consecutive points and a 25-18 set one win.
 
After two points to start set two from NU, UTPB scored five straight points to go up 5-2. The Lady Jets knotted the score up at 10-10 after back-to-back Falcon errors. After a UTPB point, NU got three straight points on the board with two attack errors and a kill from Ashley Gonzalez for a 13-11 NU lead. The Lady Jets looked to be in control of the set, gaining a 20-15 advantage after a kill from Gonzalez and a service ace from her as well. UTPB went on a 9-0 run, aided by eight errors from the Lady Jets, to take a 24-20 advantage. A Falcon kill gave them the set at 25-21.
 
NU got a set win in the third. Already holding an 11-8 lead, the Lady Jets went on a 5-0 run to pull out to a 16-8 advantage. With the score at 20-12, UTPB went on a 5-0 run to pull to within three at 20-17. After a NU timeout, the Lady Jets rolled to five consecutive points and won the set 25-17.
 
An early run by the Falcons put them in front 7-4 in the fourth set. The Lady Jets tied the score at 7-7 and then built a 12-8 lead with four straight points, including two Gonzalez kills. With NU up 13-10, UTPB made another run, going on an 8-1 run to take an 18-14 lead. The Lady Jets got five of the next six points to get the set tied at 19-19. Another 5-0 run from the Falcon gave them match point at 24-19. Two Lady Jet points kept them in the match, however, UTPB put down a kill to win the set, 25-21, and the match, 3-1.
 
Gonzalez tallied a match-high 16 kills and hit .227. Sarah Peterson added 10 kills and a hitting percentage of .280. Lexi Kuharich totaled a double-double of a match-high 28 assists and 13 digs. Libero Anna Burton finished with a match-high 33 digs.
 
The Lady Jets look to get back on track on Saturday (Sept. 13) at Lubbock Christian at 12 p.m. at Rip Griffin Center in Lubbock, Texas.