WICHITA – Newman Volleyball hosted the Pittsburg State Gorillas in MIAA action on Saturday afternoon. Newman went into today looking to end the weekend starting off 2-0 in conference play while Pittsburg State was looking for their first conference win of the season.
Game Recap
A 5-0 Gorilla run after being down 12-11 was the deciding factor in set 1. Pitt State was able to hold the lead the rest of the set to take a 1-0 lead. Newman clawed their way to try and tie it but every time they got close Pitt State found a way to hold them off.
Set 2 showed how much fight the Jets have in them. Pitt State mustered up a 5-0 run and a 4-0 run and those runs weren't enough breathing room as Newman went on two 4-0 runs in the set highlighted by kills from
Salome Romp,
Riley Daugherty, and
Abby Borough. Newman was down 11-5 at one point and finished the set off back-to-back kills by
Ozioma Ajekwu, who finished the match with 16 total kills.
With the momentum on their side Newman looked to keep up the attack but attack errors kept the Gorillas in the set. The Jets looked to be losing all the momentum as Pitt State went on a 5-0 scoring run to take a 18-14 lead, but not to be outdone the Jets struck right back to tie the game with a 5-1 scoring run. This set needed more than 25 however as both NU and PSU went back and forth before back-to-back kills by
Salome Romp gave Newman the set win and a 2-1 lead.
Set 4 saw Pitt State dominating the whole set, going out to a 6-1 lead to begin the set and holding the lead the rest of the way. Newman made it 15-11 but a 7-0 run by the Gorillas stained any hope of a comeback by the Jets. Pitt State took the 4th set 25-13 and forced a 5th set.
Set 5 looked like it was going to go in favor of Newman as they jumped out to a quick 6-3 lead. However, kills by Kate Bandre and Meg Auten along with attack errors by the Jets helped PSU go on a 5-0 run to make it 8-6. Newman fought back and went on a 4-0 run to take a 13-11 lead but a 5-1 scoring run from Pitt State was the deciding factor as a service ace ended the match and gave Pitt State the victory.
4 Jets finished with double digit kills.
Abby Borough finished the game with a .407 attack percentage.
Mckinzie Weaver finished with 44 assists on the day.
The Jets return to MIAA action next Friday for a road matchup at Nebraska Kearney.
