SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The No. 7 Mustang volleyball team finished the Drury Invitational 4-0 after beating Newman 3-0 by set scores of 25-13, 25-14, and 25-20 on Saturday afternoon at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.

The Mustangs jump to 8-0 overall while the Jets drop to 1-6 overall. 

Saari Kuehl led the Mustangs with a match-high 12 kills on .286 hitting, while adding four digs and three block assists. Emma VanHeel and Ashley Peltier combined for seven blocks while each adding seven kills. Sydney Thein supported the offense with 27 assists, while adding a pair of blocks and nine digs on defense. McKenzie Tolk led the team with 18 digs and four aces, while Leah Jones recorded a career-high five aces. It is the Mustangs first time logging at least 15 aces since Sept. 10, 2005.

In set one, Newman used a pair of quick kills from McKenna Rhodes and an SMSU attacking error to jump out to an early 4-3 lead before the Mustangs pursued a 9-2 run to flip the game and lead by six. A pair of kills and an ace by the Mustangs were quickly answered by the Jets, but the SMSU front line was too strong, forcing an attacking error to set up a kill for Leah Jones and back-to-back service aces for McKenzie Tolk to climb to a nine-point lead. SMSU scored the final five points of the set to take the 1-0 match lead.

SMSU dominated in the second set by using its momentum to hold an eight-point lead early in the game. The Mustangs would score ten-straight points to move to a monumental 16-point lead at 22-6 before the Jets seemingly woke up and scored eight of the following nine points. The comeback effort stalled there and SMSU took the second set handily. 

SMSU held on through the third set to earn the sweep. The Mustangs tallied 41 kills in the match, while holding NU to nearly half its total at 21 with a .029 hitting percentage.

The Mustangs begin their conference slate next weekend on the road with a match versus Minot State on Sept. 20, before playing UMary on Sept. 21