WICHITA, Kan. -- The Northwest Missouri State volleyball team opened up its weekend road trip with a 3-0 sweep over the Newman Jets at Fugate Gymnasium.
 
Northwest dominated by set scores of 25-12, 25-18, and 25-12, marking back-to-back sweeps of MIAA opponents Arkansas-Fort Smith and now Newman.
 
With the victory, Northwest improves to 11-7 overall and 5-3 in MIAA play, while Newman dips to 3-19 overall and 0-8 in conference play. 
 
Kate Frakes led the Bearcats' offensive charge, recording a career-high 14 kills. Abby Brunssen notched double-digit kills for the fourth straight match and the 15th time this season.
 
Northwest came out strong in the opening set, as its biggest lead held up at 13 points. The Bearcats racked up 10 kills while committing just two errors, compared to the Jets' nine. Defensively, Northwest held Newman to a hitting percentage of -.111 after the first set.
 
The second set saw the only lead change of the match when Newman scored the first point off an attack error, but Northwest quickly regained control. Brunssen posted seven kills in the set, while Frakes added four as the Bearcats out-killed 18-to-8. The Jets were limited to a .087 hitting percentage in the set. 
 
In the third and final set, Newman achieved its highest hitting percentage of the match at .172, but it wasn't enough to slow down the Bearcats. Northwest responded with its best offensive performance of the night, hitting .471 with 20 kills, including seven more from Frakes, to close out the sweep.
 
Northwest will continue MIAA play tomorrow night as they take on Pittsburg State at 6 p.m. in Pittsburg, Kansas.