WICHITA – Newman returned home for the first time since September 27^th to face yet another nationally ranked team in Northwest Missouri State who came in today's afternoon MIAA match ranked #10 in the recent AVCA coaches poll. The Bearcats were coming off a 3 set loss against #24 UCO, a team who swept Newman last Tuesday.
 
Newman got off to a hot start in the first set by going on a 3-0 run which caught the Bearcats players off guard and playing from behind early on. However, NW Missouri gathered themselves quickly and went on a 6-1 run that gave them the lead that they would hold on to the rest of the set and the rest of the match as Newman struggled to get off to good starts in the next 2 sets.
 
Northwest Missouri would get out to an early 10-2 lead in set 2, and an early 13-3 lead in set 3.
 
The Jets were outhit .290 to .130.  2021 All American Payton Kirchhofer was a thorn in the Jets side all game, finishing with 13 kills and a .333 attack %.
 
Kills by Ozioma Ajekwu and Abby Borough were enough to keep the Jets close with the #10 Bearcats in the 1st set, and a kill by Riley Daugherty brought the first set as close as 19-17 but the #10 Bearcats went on a 6-2 scoring run to end the set and the 19-17 lead would remain the closest score the rest of the way.
 
Natalie Morales ended the match with 14 digs. Mckinzie Weaver finished with 23 assists. Freshman Natalie Meyer had 7 kills in her first start of the season.
 
The Jets (7-13, 2-8) will head back on the road for 1 game before a 2 game home stand and look to get back in the win column and stay in the fight for the MIAA tournament as they face Missouri Southern (8-10, 3-6), a team that the Jets defeated earlier in the season in 4 sets. That matchup is scheduled for 6 PM on Tuesday.