Hays, Kan. - Newman Volleyball ended their weekend with a trip to MIAA foe Fort Hays State as Newman looked to improve to 2-2 in the MIAA while the Tigers looked for their first win since September 3rd. 

Game Recap

Set 1 saw Fort Hays jumped off to a quick 3-0 start after miscues by Newman and attack errors. Ozioma Ajekwu stopped any quick run the lions were planning with a ginormous kill. Fort Hays quickly gathered themselves and went on an 8-0 run that brought out a 14-4 lead early. An Abby Borough kill stopped the run and helped the Jets get back on their feet.

Newman scratched and clawed to keep the first set close, trying to cut down the lead with kills by Ajekwu but the momentum stayed on the Tigers side with a service ace by Jaida Felix and an attack error from Newman. The Tigers rolled to a dominant set 1 performance with a 25-12 set 1 victory while the Jets looked to find the answer to a set that was all Fort Hays. Lily Hilgenfeld led the first set for the Jets with 3 kills while finishing with a .500 hit percentage.

The first set saw a handful of points go in favor of Fort Hays off of attack errors by the Jets. After starting the 2nd set off with a service and attack error, Ajekwu again tried stopping another quick Tiger run with a hard hitting kill. The Jets took their first lead of the game with Abby Borough and Mckinzie Weaver kills to take an early 5-3 lead in set 2. A service ace by Natalie Trigo and a Daugherty kill gave Newman its largest lead of the match so far at 7-3. A quick 3-0 run had the Tigers on their toes as they quickly found themselves down 10-4 and using their first timeout of the game.

Fort Hays flipped the court as what was a 13-8 lead became a 13-13 tie after going on a 5-0 run off a few attack errors and kills caught Newman off guard and what looked to be a set Newman could run away with turned into a back and forth slug fest with the Jets getting the final punch in set 2 with Mckinzie Weaver recording the final point for Newman and giving them a 25-20 set 2 win.

The big factor in the Jets set 2 victory was keeping the Tigers still, not letting them go on any big runs. Newman answered every potential Fort Hays run and instead went on a few scoring runs of their own.

With both teams at a set a piece Newman looked to keep the momentum shifted their way while the Tigers hoped to find the rhythm they had in set 1. No team seemed to have the upper hand on the other as the Jets and Tigers traded blows. That was until Fort Hays went on a 5-1 scoring run and took a 4 point lead heading into a Newman timeout.
The Tigers came out of the timeout hot and continued their scoring run, making it an 18-10 lead and leading to another Jets timeout before a service error ended what ended up being an 11-2 Tigers scoring run.

The scoring run was enough to knock the Jets down and give Fort Hays enough room to run away with a a big 25-15 set 3 win after the an Emily Ellis kill finished off what ended up being a lopsided set 3.

With their backs against the wall, the Jets needed to find an answer to a very good Fort Hays team that was looking for their first victory since September 3rd. The Jets were able to jump out to an 8-7 lead off of attack errors by the Tigers and a perfectly timed kill by McKinzie Weaver.

Fort Hays quickly took back the lead with a 5-0 scoring run off 4 straight attack errors by the Jets. Back to back kills by Daugherty and Weaver brought the Tiger lead back to 3 and the score remained in favor of FHSU as Borough and Daugherty became a wall and blocked a Claire Olsen attack to tie the set at 14-14. After a quick lead change by Fort Hays an Abby Borough service ace tied the game before another Ajekwu kill gave the jets a 19-18 lead.

Fort Hays State's Emily Ellis was a thorn in Newman's side all match and if Newman were to win the match they'd have to find a way to stop Ellis. Not to be outdone however was Ajekwu and a kill by her led to a Tigers timeout and a kill by Lily Hilgenfeld sent the match into a 5th set with a 25-20 set 4 victory for Newman.

In the 5th and final set, Newman jumped out quickly to a 4-1 lead, causing Fort Hays to call an early timeout. After a back and forth 5th set, Newman was able to push out to a 12-9 lead before a Fort Hays 4-0 run gave the Tigers back the lead. A block by Claire Olsen and Morgan Christiansen off a Riley Daugherty attack was the final nail in the coffin as Fort Hays ended their 4 game losing streak while Newman falls in 5 to the Tigers.

Ajekwu finished with 17 kills while Abby Borough finished with 12. Both finished with 5 blocks on the day.

Newman (6-7, 1-3) returns home this upcoming Friday as #2 Washburn (11-0, 2-0) visits Wichita for an MIAA matchup scheduled for 6 pm.