The Northwest Missouri State University volleyball team defeated the Newman Jets, 3-1, on Thursday at the Carr Racop Invitational hosted by the University of Arkansas Fort Smith.

– The Bearcats move to 5-4 on the year with the win while Newman University falls to 4-6.

– The match was played at the Stubblefield Center in Fort Smith, Ark.

– Maddy Bruder had a match-high 18 kills, hitting a team-best .226. She added 22 digs, three blocks, three assists and a service ace.

Key Northwest Statistics
– Northwest won the first two sets by scores of 25-23 and 25-22. Newman bounced back to win the third, 26-24, but the Bearcats closed out the match with a 25-18 fourth set win.

– The Bearcats held the Jets to a .000 attack percentage in the fourth set.

– Morgan Lewis had 12 kills and hit .222 in four sets.

– Darcy Sunderman added 10 kills with 17 digs and two blocks.

– Sarah Dannettell had 48 assists with 14 digs, three kills and a service ace.

– Defensively, Olivia Nowakowski had a match-best 28 digs, adding three assists.

– Alexis Williams had six blocks with eight kills and four digs.

Key Northwest Sequences
– Late in the first set, Northwest found itself down, 23-22, after a Jet kill. Sunderman would come up with back-to-back kills off assists from Dannettell to tie and then take the lead, 24-23. After a Newman timeout, the Bearcats put the set away with a kill from Lewis, 25-23.

– Northwest closed out the fourth set in convincing fashion for the win. Leading by just a point, 18-17, the Bearcats closed out the set and the match by winning seven of the next eight points. Sunderman had three kills in the sequence. Bruder added a service ace and Dannettell added a kill. On match point, Gaby da Silva notched a kill off a Dannettell assist.

Up Next
– The Bearcats will face West Florida on Friday at 11:30 a.m., followed by a match against host Arkansas Fort Smith at 7 p.m.

— Northwest Athletics —