RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Newman volleyball team started the Arkansas Tech Tournament with two 3-0 victories today (Sept. 11) against Ouachita Baptist and host Arkansas Tech. With the wins, the Jets moved to 4-4 on the season. NU takes on Midwestern State and Missouri Southern tomorrow (Sept. 12) to end the event.
NU 3, OBU 0
In their first match of the tournament, the Jets cruised to a 3-0 win over Ouachita Baptist by the set scores of 25-23, 25-19 and 25-22. NU started by hitting .271 in the first set with 21 kills to only 11 kills from OBU. In the second set, the Jets continued to control the match with a .208 hitting percent and 18 kills. The final set saw NU finish with 18 kills and hit .270.
For the match, NU hit .248 with 57 kills and 24 errors. OBU hit .208 with only 30 kills and eight errors on 106 attempts.
Senior
Ashley Gonzalez was outstanding with 21 kills and hit a match-high .545 with only three errors on 33 attempts. She added two aces, two blocks and one dig.
Kayla Turner added 12 kills and 13 digs for a double-double.
Gaylynn Jones finished with 10 kills.
Alexus Litts totaled a match-high 48 assists. Libero
Anna Burton tallied a match-high 16 digs.
OBU's Abby Pickett had a team0high 15 kills with a .382 hitting percentage. Stormi Leonard had 27 assists, and Ashley Wake finished with 15 digs.
NU3 ATU 0
NU cruised to a 3-0 win in front of a home crowd in the nightcap, winning 25-22, 25-15 and 25-22 over Arkansas Tech. The Jets started by hitting better than .300 in the first two sets with a total of four errors in two sets. In the final set, NU still outhit ATU, going .190 for the third set.
In the first, the Jets once again started strong by hitting .333 with 14 kills and only two errors on 36 attempts to get the 25-22 win. Tech also had a strong set hitting, finishing at .273 with 18 kills, but six errors.
The Jets were even better in the second set with a .344 hitting percentage and again only two errors with 13 kills. NU cruised to a 25-15 win in the set as ATU only hit .053 with 11 kills and nine errors.
NU cooled off slightly in the final set, hitting .190 with 14 kills and a match-high six errors. The Jets still outperformed Tech, which hit .143 with 14 kills and eight errors.
For the match, NU hit an impressive .282 with 41 kills and only 10 errors on 110 attempts. ATU finished with 43 kills, 23 errors and a .161 hitting percentage.
Turner finished with a match-high 13 kills and no errors for a .500 hitting percentage. She missed a double-double by one dig, totaling nine. Jones and Gonzalez added nine kills with Gonzalez hitting .409. Jones hit .333 and added 12 digs. Burton again led the Jets with 18 digs, a match high. Litts tallied a match-high 32 assists.
ATU's Hunter Eshnauer finished with a double-double of 13 kills and 10 digs. Tech totaled a .161 hitting percentage with 43 kills and 23 errors on 124 attempts.
The Jets play day two of the Arkansas Tech against Midwestern State and Missouri Southern. NU takes on MSU at 9 a.m. and plays MSSU at 3 p.m.
