SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The Newman volleyball team ended the regular season with a dominating 3-0 win at St. Mary's on Saturday (Nov. 14) at Greehey Arena. The Jets end the regular season with a record of 25-8 and 13-3 in the Heartland Conference. The record is the best in NCAA Division II Newman school history.
The Jets cruised to set wins of 25-13, 25-15 and 25-18. NU hit an impressive .362 as a team, the best hitting percentage in conference play for them this season. It's also the second-best hitting percentage this season for NU after a .377 hitting percentage against Bacon College on Sept. 8 in a 3-0 win.
In the first set, NU totaled 15 kills with five errors for a .33 hitting percentage. The Rattlers finished hitting .103 with seven kills and four errors on 29 attempts.
NU continued to control the match with a 25-15 win in the second set. The Jets were strong again hitting at .323 with 13 kills and only three errors. StMU hit the worst of the match at .031 with eight kills and seven errors, a match high.
The Jets put the match away with a 25-18 win in the third set for the 3-0 sweep. NU had their best hitting performance at .424 with 17 kills and only three errors. The Rattlers also performed well, hitting .389 with 15 kills and one error.
For the match, NU totaled 45 kills and 11 errors on only 94 attempts. StMU finished with 30 kills and 12 errors on 97 attempts.
Senior
Ashley Gonzalez had another outstanding performance. The favorite for Heartland Conference Player of the Year honors tallied 18 kills and only one error to hit .548. She added one block, one ace and one dig. Freshman
Yemima Buana hit .583, a match high, with seven kills on only 12 attempts. Senior setter
Alexus Litts registered 36 assists and added eight digs. Libero
Anna Burton finished with a match-high 19 digs.
The Jets now prepare for the Heartland Conference Tournament next Friday and Saturday (Nov. 20-21), hosted by conference champion UA Fort Smith. NU, which is the No. 2 seed, plays No. 3 seed on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the semifinals. Live stats and video will be available.
