WICHITA, Kan. — The Newman volleyball team heads back home for its season home opener against nonconference opponent Northwestern Oklahoma State inside Fugate Gymnasium Tuesday evening.
SCOUTING NEWMAN
The Jets (2-2), started their opening weekend of play on the road in Denton, Texas at the 2016 Hilton Garden Inn Classic. NU split four matches over the first weekend of play. On Day 1 of the tournament the Jets fell to the host team Texas Woman's 3-0 (26-24, 25-23, 25-20) but beat Harding 3-1 (25-16, 27-25, 24-26, 25-22). On Day 2 of the tournament NU lost a tough one to Texas A&M-Commerce 3-2 (12-25, 17-25, 25-21, 25-21, 15-17) early in the morning but rallied back to sweep Colorado State-Pueblo 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-21) to close out the tournament.
LEADERS
Emily Harvey, Junior- 4 match starts, 60 kills, 4 kills per set, 64.5 pts, 4.30 pts per set, 8 blocks
Aliya Higginbotham, Junior – 3 match starts, 40 kills, 2.86 kills per set, 44 digs, 4 blocks
Laura Hageman, Senior – 3 match starts, 28 kills, 2.15 kills per set, 5 aces, 36 digs, 6 blocks
Jarin Braithwait, Senior – 4 match starts, 27 kills, 2.08 kills per set, 2 aces, 11 digs, 9 blocks
Brook Conley, Junior – 4 match starts, 129 assists, 10.75 assists per set, 6 aces, 45 digs
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
The Rangers (0-4) will be coming into Tuesday's match, looking for their first win of the season. NWOSU opened up with a tournament at Oklahoma Panhandle State this past weekend. The Rangers fell to Texas Permian Basin 3-0 (16-25, 20-25, 21-25) in the first match and Fort Hays State 3-2 (25-23, 25-18, 25-27, 15-25, 6-15) to wrap-up Day 1. NWOSU played Missouri Southern State to open up Day 2 of the tournament and lost 3-2 (26-28, 25-19, 25-6, 18-25, 12-15) and finished the tournament against the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs but fell 3-1 (16-25,
25-23, 18-25, 16-25).
LEADERS
Natalie Fahey, Senior- 40 kills, 2.35 kills per set, 3 aces, 10 digs, 12 blocks
Hannah Williams, Sophomore- 31 kills, 2.21 kills per set, 3 aces, 32 digs
Jennifer Eubanks, Freshman- 26 kills, 1.62 kills per set, 11 blocks
Vanessa Maile, Senior- 72 assists, 4.50 assists per set, 6 aces, 22 digs
Kiauna Clark, Freshman- 69 assists, 4.06 assists per set, 1 ace, 38 digs
NOTES
-The Jets and the Rangers will face off for the second time this season but this time the match will actually count because the first time they played it was just a scrimmage back in late August.
-Harvey is currently the team leader in kills (60) and kills per set (4.00) but is also tied for first place in the Heartland Conference after one week of play.
-Conley is the currently the team leader in assists (129) and assists per set (10.75) but is in first place in the Heartland Conference in assists per set after one week of play.
COVERAGE
Live statistics and video will be available Tuesday evening at www.newmanjets.com.
