WARRENSBURG, Mo. — Facing the tall task of knocking off the No. 11 team in the country to complete a perfect weekend, the Newman women's volleyball team split its final day at the Peggy Martin Crossover Challenge Saturday, topping Arkansas Tech 3-2 before falling 3-0 to host Central Missouri.
ARKANSAS TECH
KEY SEQUENCE
The Jets (10-4 overall) faced many critical moments, winning three close sets against the Golden Suns (6-6 overall), but their last burst was the most important. Facing match point down 15-14 in the fifth set, Emily Harvey pounded home a kill to tie it up. Kayla Turner made it two straight with a kill to put Newman up 16-15, and a Tech error sealed the thrilling 25-21, 17-25, 30-28, 18-25, 17-15 win for the Jets.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-Tied at 6-6 in the opening set, Newman rattled off six straight points to take control. Hailey Braddy kills earned four of those points, while Harvey and Yemima Buana capped the run with a block.
-ATU closed the gap with a 5-1 run, and got as close as 21-19, but the Jets scored four of the final six points to seal the deal.
-Up early in the second, Newman saw the Suns score four straight to go up 6-3 and hold on to the lead the rest of the set. Two kills from Braddy made it an 18-15 deficit, but Tech pulled away to even the match.
-Newman got right back in control to start the third set, netting four straight points and seven of the first eight, as Jarin Braithwait provided three kills and Laura Hageman a kill and an ace.
-The lead remained at least two until Tech scored three straight to make it 16-15, and the Suns used a 6-1 run to take its first lead of the set at 23-22. A wild finish to the set saw Newman score three straight, Tech respond with two points to go up 25-24, the Jets get a block from Harvey and Buana and a kill from Harvey to go up 27-26 before Hageman and Braddy finally put two points together to grab the tight win.
-Tech had a similar start to the fourth, going up 6-1 and leading the entire way to tie the match and force a decisive set for the win.
-A 6-1 run early in the fifth set, with three kills from Turner and one from Harvey, lifted Newman to an 8-3 advantage. The Golden Suns tightened it up to 9-7 before two kills from Braddy helped push it back out to 12-7. Braddy put up two more kills, with the second making it 14-11 before Tech roared back and forced the dramatic finish.
CENTRAL MISSOURI
KEY SEQUENCE
Trailing by two sets against the No. 11 Jennies (10-2 overall), Newman started out hot in the third set, looking to stay alive and force a fourth. UCM wouldn't allow that though, going from down 10-9 to up 19-11 thanks to an impressive 10-1 run that helped put it in control.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-Kills from Turner, Braddy and Brook Conley gave the Jets their first multi-point run, and another from Braddy made it a 15-11 lead for the Jennies.
-Three more points thanks to a Buana kill and two aces by Conley made it 18-14, and the Jets held on to keep it close despite falling in the opening set.
-A close start to the second set saw the game tied at each point through 7-7. A Braithwait kill gave Newman a 9-7 advantage, but UCM would pull away from there.
-Buana picked up two kills and teamed up with Harvey for a block for three straight Jet points that made it 5-4 early in the third set, and Newman bounded out to a 10-9 lead thanks to a 4-0 run before the Jennies took over to close out the match.
NOTES
-With the split on Saturday, the Jets have now gone 3-1 in their past two weekend tournaments and are 8-2 in their last 10 matches, the only losses coming to teams that are currently ranked in the top 11 in the country.
-Anna Burton, who put up 43 digs over Saturday's two matches, earned a spot on the all-tournament team, going for 4.80 digs per set over the four matches.
-Braddy went for an impressive 21 kills against Arkansas Tech, and finished the day with 28 kills, while Braithwait hit .407 against the Golden Suns, adding 15 kills.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Jets hold their final home nonconference game Tuesday evening, welcoming Bacone to Fugate Gymnasium.
