DENTON, Texas — Fighting through close games in nearly every set, the Newman women's volleyball team split on the opening day of its 2016 season at the Hilton Garden Inn Classic Friday, falling 3-0 (26-24, 25-23, 25-20) to host Texas Woman's before topping Harding 3-1 (25-16, 27-25, 24-26, 25-22) in the nightcap.

TEXAS WOMAN'S

Key Sequence

After a tight first set that eventually went the way of the Pioneers (2-0), the second set was another back-and-forth affair. The Jets (1-1 overall) would shoot ahead for their first lead of the second set with four straight points to make it 21-20, but TWU responded with three consecutive points to go back in front and held on to make what could have been a 1-1 tie after two sets a solid 2-0 lead.

Set 1

-Newman went down early, but two consecutive kills from Emily Harvey started a short run to get the guests back into the set. The Jets would still trail, but another 3-0 run bolstered by a kill and an ace out of Kayla Turner tied things up for the first time at 16-16.

-A block from Brook Conley and Yemima Buana tied it up at 18-18, and a Pioneer error gave Newman its first lead. Another TWU error kept the Jets in it at 23-23, and Harvey's fourth kill of the set made it 24-24, but the Pioneers recorded two straight kills to grab the early lead.

Set 2

-The hosts jumped out to the early lead once again in the second game, going up by four before a Harvey kill and a block from Turner and Buana combined with two Pioneer errors keyed a 4-1 run by the Jets and made it 13-12 midway through the set.

-An ace from Turner sandwiched between two kills out of Jarin Braithwait once again pulled Newman to within a point at 17-16, and back-to-back kills from Harvey and Laura Hageman and a TWU errormade it 21-20 in favor of the Jets. They tied it up at 23-23, but the Pioneers again scored the last two points of a set to win it.

Set 3

-Two kills from Hageman and one by Conley boosted Newman to a 5-1 run early in the third that handed it an 8-7 lead. Another kill out of Harvey tied things at 11-all, and kills from Braithwait pulled Newman to within two on two different occasions.

-Down by as much as six later in the set, Hageman and Harvey started a three-point run with kills that made it 22-20, but three straight TWU kills finished off the Jets' season opener.

HARDING

Key Sequence

After three straight close sets to open the second match of the day, the Jets were locked in another tight one with the Bisons (0-2) in the fourth, tied 6-6. Turner gave Newman the lead for good with a kill to make it 7-6, a point that started a 5-1 run that was capped by kills from Aliya Higginbotham and Buana to push the advantage to 11-7. Harding would close that gap to as little as two points, but would not get it closer than that.

Set 1

-Harding picked up the first two points of the match, but that was the only lead it would enjoy in the first set, as Higginbotham and Harvey each put away two kills in a four-point run to make it 5-3 early. Those points were the start of a 17-5 run that all but put the game away. Harvey was also part of the end to that run, putting together three kills around two Bison errors to key a 5-0 run that ran the score to 18-8.

-The Bisons would make a late charge from there, pulling it to as close as 20-16, but after an attack error, Turner picked up a kill followed by an ace, and Braithwait and Hageman blocked an attack to help the Jets score the final five points and lock up the opening set.

Set 2

-Despite its tight final score, the second stanza was full of wild swings of momentum. After things started off with a 7-4 lead for Harding, each team scored five straight points to trade leads and leave the score at 12-9. Two kills from Hageman around a Hailey Braddy kill tied it at 14-all, but the Bisons again went ahead with three straight points from there.

-Four kills from four different attackers, an ace out of Conley and a big block from Hageman and Braddy helped the Jets run off eight of the next 10 points to go ahead 22-19, but the Bisons didn't back down, going on a 6-2 run to get to set point.

-Facing a possible tie after two sets, Higginbotham secured a pair of kills around a Harding error to give Newman three straight points and the important 2-0 advantage in the match.

Set 3

-The lead changed hands four times and the score was tied seven times during the third, with the Bisons doing just enough to stay ahead of the Jets at most turns. Harding went on a 7-2 run to take an 11-8 lead and would get to as big of a margin as four at 22-18 before Newman charged back.

-Two straight kills by Harvey followed by one from Braithwait cut that lead to one at 22-21, and another Braithwait finish made it 23-22. Higginbotham knocked one off the block, and a Harding error tied things up at 24-all, but the Bisons managed the final two points to avoid the sweep.

Set 4

-An even start to what would be the final set gave way to a three-point spurt by the Jets with kills from Harvey and Braithwait to make it 6-4, and Newman would not trail again the rest of the way.

-A four-point push by the Bisons got them to 20-18, but kills from Higginbotham and Buana pushed the advantage back out to four and give Newman all the breathing room it would need.

NOTES

-Harvey posted 15 kills to pace the Jets in their season opener, and led the team again with 18 in the finale. Her 33 kills is the most in back-to-back matches in the junior's career.

-Conley dished out 26 assists in her Newman debut against TWU, and followed that up with 51 in the four-set victory over Harding. She put up a double-double in each match as well, totaling 29 digs.

-Braithwait smacked home nine kills on 17 attempts with no errors to hit .529 against TWU, and added 10 against the Bisons. Higginbotham followed up a quiet first match by hitting .318 and tallying 16 kills against Harding.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Jets finish up their opening weekend of the 2016 season back at Texas Women's, facing off against Texas A&M-Commerce at 9 a.m. and Colorado State-Pueblo at 2 p.m.