WICHITA, Kan. — Suddenly finding itself in a battle after cruising through the first set, the Newman women's volleyball team turned back a game St. Mary's side to pick up a 3-1 (25-14, 23-25, 25-21, 25-21) victory in Heartland Conference action Saturday afternoon at Fugate Gymnasium.

KEY SEQUENCE

Looking up at an early deficit in the fourth set, the Jets (20-9, 9-4 Heartland) found themselves again needing to hold off a charge from the Rattlers (13-14, 5-8 Heartland). The guests sprinted out to a 6-0 lead to start what could be a match-clinching set for Newman, but the Jets answered the call, as Anna Burton turned in two aces, Kayla Turner adding two kills and Jarin Braithwait and Emily Harvey combining for a block to string together seven straight points and get right back in it.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Set 1

-The Jets jumped out to an early 6-0 lead to start the first set of the afternoon. A service ace by Brook Conley was the first point of the day, followed by a Rattler error and back-to-back kills from Aliya Higginbotham, then another error by St. Mary's and a Yemima Buana kill to end the 6-0 start.

-Back-to-back kills from Turner and a Harvey kill pushed the Jet lead out to 12-4 halfway through the set.

-Newman would control the remainder of Set 1, as the Jets scored the final two points of the set with kills coming from Harvey and Turner to wrap up the set 25-14.

Set 2            

-The Jets once again jumped out to early lead to begin a set, this time it was 8-3. Newman would get its biggest lead of the set at 14-6 halfway through Set 2.

-The Rattlers would slither their way back into the set, by tying the score at 18-18 late in the set. A kill from Braithwait and back-to-back St. Mary's errors made the score 21-18 in favor of Newman.

-St. Mary's would tie the score back up at 22-22 but a Higginbotham kill would help the Jets get out in front for the last time at 23-22. The Rattlers would score three-straight points to win Set 2 25-23.

Set 3            

-For the third straight set Newman jumped out to an early lead, Harvey had two kills and the Rattlers had two errors to give the Jets an early 4-0 advantage.

-St. Mary's would tie the score at 6-6 and 7-7 and then push out in front to 10-8. A kill from Braithwait followed by an ace from her would tie things up at 10-10.

-It would be back and forth throughout the remainder of Set 3 with the score being tied at 14-14, 15-15, 16-16, 17-17, 18-18, 19-19, and the last time at 20-20.

-The Jets would pull off a Set 3 victory by scoring the final three points of the set by way of a Harvey kill and back-to-back Rattler errors to win the set 25-21 to give a 2-1 advantage heading into Set 4.

Set 4

-Despite charging back into the set with their run that put them up 8-7, the Jets weren't out of trouble. Three straight points from the Rattlers pushed them back ahead before a Harvey kill and an ace from Kaci Copeland tied things up at 10-all.

-Newman wasn't able to move ahead though, and St. Mary's pushed its lead out to 18-14 looking to force a decisive fifth set. Two straight blocks by the Jets, the first from Buana and Hailey Braddy and the second a solo stuff by Turner, started the hosts back on the right track.

-After a single St. Mary's point, Newman responded with three straight kills to start a match-ending 9-2 run. Harvey netted three kills during the stretch, while Turner added two and an ace before a solo block from Braddy ended it.

LEADERS

Newman
Kills: Harvey 19. Aces: Braithwait, Burton 2. Blocks: Buana 5. Assists: Conley 29. Digs: Conley 18.

St. Mary's
Kills: Tarine Grace 18. Aces: Bree Perry 2. Blocks: Shelley Chapron, Perry 5. Assists: Perry 42. Digs: Amanda Lake 19.

NOTES

-The win locked up a second straight season with at least 20 victories for Newman, and their 20 wins is already the second most in a season in the Jets' Division II era.

-The victory also gave the Jets a leg up for the third seed in the Heartland Conference tournament. Combined with St. Edward's loss Saturday, Newman is now a game ahead of the Hilltoppers with one to play. SEU holds the tiebreaker (point differential in matches between tied teams) though.

-Newman hit an impressive .400 during its dominant first set. In comparison, the Rattlers never hit better than .179, helped by the Jets putting up a season-high 11.0 blocks, with Buana, Braithwait, Harvey, Braddy and Turner all getting multiple blocks on the day.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Jets wrap up the regular season with a Senior Day matchup against first-place Arkansas-Fort Smith on Thursday.