WICHITA, Kan. — Reaching the midway point of the Heartland Conference season, the Newman volleyball team hosts Arkansas-Fort Smith Thursday, looking to make the race for the regular season title a bit more interesting.

SCOUTING NEWMAN

The Jets (9-12, 3-2 Heartland) bounced back after a tough 3-2 loss to St. Mary's on Thursday to snag a 3-0 sweep of Texas A&M International. Freshman Reagen Roth averaged 8.9 assists per set over those two matches, helping Newman stay near the top of the tightly bunched Heartland standings.

                Leaders

                Emily Harvey-3.73 k/set, .268 attack%, 0.45 blk/set
                Kayla Turner-2.24 k/set, 19 aces, 3.36 d/set, 0.25 blk/set
                Anna Burton-17 aces, 5.71 d/set
                Megan Pedersen-2.53 k/set, .270 attack%, 6.29 ast/set, 15 aces, 2.20 d/set, 0.49 blk/set
                Reagen Roth-4.37 ast/set, 22 aces, 1.44 d/set

SCOUTING THE LIONS

Arkansas-Fort Smith (16-5, 5-0 Heartland) is riding an eight-match winning streak into Thursday's matchup, besting Harding 3-1 in nonconference action Monday after putting together sweeps of TAMIU and St. Mary's over the weekend.

                Leaders

Anna Demmer-4.22 k/set, .269 attack%, 26 aces, 3.30 d/set, 0.58 blk/set
Susannah Kelley-10.86 ast/set, 16 aces, 2.84 d/set
Autumn Reese-16 aces, 6.97 d/set
Debra Rogers-2.16 k/set, .257 attack%, 1.33 blk/set
Pulotu Manoa-2.97 k/set, .215 attack%, 2.32 d/set, 0.45 blk/set

NOTES

-UAFS is currently on a 42-match Heartland Conference winning streak. The Lions last loss in league play came Oct. 9, 2014, when the Jets grabbed a 3-1 victory.

-The Lions sit alone atop the standings at 5-0, but Newman leads a pack of five teams all within a game of each other right behind them.

-Emily Harvey is second in the conference in kills per set and attacks per set. The only player in front of her is UAFS's Anna Demmer.

COVERAGE

Live video and statistics will be available at www.newmanjets.com.