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Thursday, November 4, 2010

Newman Clinches First-Ever Heartland Conference Volleyball Tournament Berth with 3-1 Win over Texas-Permian Basin

WICHITA – Sophomores Jeana Farruggia and Allison Bailey each recorded 14 kills, as the Newman volleyball team clinched its first-ever trip to the Heartland Conference championship tournament with a 3-1 (25-15, 13-25, 25-14, 26-24) win over Texas-Permian Basin. Newman is now tied for second place with Dallas Baptist in the Heartland Conference volleyball standings.

Newman (13-15, 7-4 Heartland) made the first move in the opening set. After spotting Texas-Permian Basin (10-20, 6-6 Heartland) a 2-0 lead, the Jets reeled off four-straight points behind Jeana Farruggia's jump serve, and took a 4-2 lead. The Falcons snuck back to within 6-5, but Newman countered with a 5-1 run to take an 11-6 lead. The Jets extended their lead to six, 14-8, after an Allison Bailey kill forced UTPB head coach Steve Aicinena to call a time-out. Aicinena's timeout was effective, but only for a point. The two squads exchanged points out of the timeout before Newman put together an 11-7 run, and took early control of the match with a 25-15 first-set victory.

Thursday's second set belonged to the Falcons from the start. UTPB sprinted to an early 3-0 lead before Newman rallied to tie the set at 5-5. The Jets forced another tie at 7-7 before a 6-1 Falcon run gave UTPB a 13-8 lead it would not relinquish as the Falcons allowed just eight Newman kills, and tied the match at 1-1 with a 25-13 second-set win.

Unphased, the Jets answered back with another dominating win in the third set. A Victoria Green kill, followed by an attack error by UTPB's Melissa Lusk gave Newman an early 2-0 lead in the set. Another Bailey kill forced Aicinena to call a time-out with his team trailing 7-2. This time, Aicinena's timeout sparked the Falcons for a 4-0 run, but a Chelsey Potter kill gave Newman's Gabby Loxterman the ball at the service line. Loxterman served nine-straight balls to the Falcons as the Jets quickly reeled off a 8-1 run to take a 16-7 lead that proved to be insurmountable for the Falcons. A 25-14 third-set win gave Newman a 2-1 advantage going into the fourth set.

The fourth set of Thursday's contest kept the 307 fans in attendance on the edge of their seats from the start. UTPB scored the first point off a Jamie Rodell kill, and took a 2-0 lead after a Victoria Green attack error, but Newman tied the set at 2-2 after a kill from Karol Marins. From that point, neither team led by more than two until the Falcons took a 20-17 lead off another Rodell kill that forced Newman head coach Joanna Pryor to call a timeout. Newman responded to Pryor's timeout wisdom, and put together a 3-0 run to tie the set at 20. The two teams exchanged points from that point forward. A Potter kill tied the set at 24-24 and forced extra points, but the extended set was short-lived, as back-to-back Falcon attack errors handed the Jets a 26-24 win, and secured the team's spot in its first-ever Heartland Conference Championship tournament.

Sophomores Jeana Farruggia and Allison Bailey each scored 14 points to lead the Jets offense in Thursday's win. Senior Karol Marins finished with nine kills, while fellow seniors Chelsey Potter and Victoria Green added eight kills each. Freshman Gabby Loxterman proved her worth as the reigning Heartland Conference Setter of the Week, and set 45 assists in the winning effort. Amanda Savage and Allison Fox led Newman's defensive efforts, recording 12 digs a piece.

UTPB's Alex Genung finished with a team-high 13 kills, and added 10 digs for the match's only double-double performance.

As a team, the Jets hit .233 for the match, recording 57 kills with 22 errors on 150 attack attempts, while holding UTPB to a .130 attack percentage. Newman out-blocked the Falcons 10-6 in the win.

With the win, the Jets improve to 13-15 on the season, and 7-4 in Heartland Conference play. After other Heartland Conference action Thursday night, Newman is tied with Dallas Baptist for second place in the Heartland Conference with one game remaining. The Jets conclude their regular season Saturday with a 1 p.m. senior day contest against Oklahoma Panhandle State inside Newman's Fugate Gymnasium.


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