WICHITA – The Newman volleyball team went 2-0 on Senior Day with wins over Eastern New Mexico and Oklahoma Panhandle State. The Jets rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win, 3-2, over ENMU and won, 3-0, over OPSU both on Saturday (Nov. 7) at Fugate Gymnasium. Senior Ashley Gonzalez went over 1,000 kills in the win over OPSU, which clinched second in the Heartland Conference. With the wins, NU moved to 22-8 and 11-3 in the Heartland Conference.
 
NU 3, OPSU 0
 
The Jets dominated in the first match of the day, rolling to a 3-0 win over the Aggies. NU won the sets by the scores of 25-21, 25-10 and 25-19.
 
In the first, OPSU committed zero errors and hit .371; however, the Jets were still victorious. Gonzalez needed just four kills going into the match, got her 1,000 career kill in the first set. She led the Jets to a .262 hitting percentage with 17 kills.
 
The Jets were at their best in the second set, totaling a .652 hitting percentage with 17 kills and only two errors. OPSU tallied only six kills and four errors for a .080 hitting percentage.
 
NU got the win with the 25-19 win in the third set. The Jets finished with a .293 hitting percentage in the set with 17 kills and five errors. The Aggies registered a .206 hitting percentage with 10 kills and three errors.
 
For the match, NU hit .358 with 51 kills and 13 errors on 106 attempts. The Aggies finished at .234 with 29 kills and seven errors on 94 attempts.
 
Gonzalez totaled 20 kills and hit .500 in the win. Senior Alexus Litts registered 40 assists, and libero Anna Burton tallied 19 digs.
 
NU 3, ENMU 2
 
After falling behind 2-0, the Jets rallied to win the final three sets to get the 3-2 win over the Greyhounds.
 
ENMU hit .417 with 17 kills and two errors in the first set to get a 25-18 win. In the second, the set was close, however, the Greyhounds pulled away for the 26-24 victory to go up 2-0.
 
Needing a win, NU cruised to set wins of 25-18 and 25-15 in the next two sets. In the fifth, NU closed out the match with an 18-16 win.
 
In the third, NU trailed 8-6, but used a 6-0 run to gain a 12-8 advantage. With the Jets up 19-16, they used a 5-0 to go up 24-16. NU went on to win 25-18. The Jets hit .250 in the third set with 12 kills and four errors. ENMU hit .194 in the third.
 
With the score tied at 13-13 in the fourth set, ended the set with a 12-2 run. The spurt started with seven straight points for NU to go up 20-13. After back-to-back Greyhound points, NU ended the set on a 5-0 win. The Jets hit .172 with 12 kills and seven errors. ENMU totaled only three kills and had eight errors to hit -.185.
 
The fifth set was close throughout. With the score knotted at 12-12, ENMU got back-to-back kills to get match point at 14-12. The Jets needed two straight points to have a chance. Yemima Buana started with a kill and then a blocking error by ENMU gave Jarin Braithwait the kill for a 14-14 score. A kill by the Greyhounds again gave them set point; however, NU got back-to-back points for a 16-15 score. A kill by ENMU tied the score again at 16-16. Kayla Turner put NU up 17-16, and the Jets got the 18-16 win after an error by the Greyhounds.
 
Both teams hit well in the final set. The Jets totaled 12 kills with only one error for a .407 hitting percentage. ENMU finished with 14 kills and four errors for a .333 hitting percentage.
 
For the match, NU hit .262 with 64 kills and 21 errors on 164 attempts. The Greyhounds had 65 kills and 26 errors for a .227 hitting percentage.
 
Gonzalez, playing in her final home match, tallied a match-high 20 kills and hit .385. Emily Harvey added 18 kills and hit .357. Turner totaled a double-double of 11 kills and 11 digs. Also with a double-double was Litts, who was also in her final home match. She finished with 56 assists and 13 digs. Burton had a match-high 19 digs.