SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Northern Arizona volleyball team was forced to play catch up all night long, but late rallies were not quite enough to put them over the edge as they dropped a tight 28-26, 19-25, 26-24, 25-23 match to Sacramento State on Thursday. NAU fell to 19-7 overall and 10-5 in the Big Sky heading into its regular season finale at Portland State on Saturday.

"Tonight was a struggle for us and we were really inconsistent with our energy and execution levels," said head coach Ken Murphy. "We were fighting to get back into the match, but every time we got even we let up a little bit. It was good to see us come back and keep giving ourselves a shot, but we have to make sure we don't slow down."

Senior Sydney Kemper, junior Janae Vander Ploeg and sophomores Lauren Jacobsen and Jensen Barton all notched double-doubles in the loss while redshirt junior Stacia Williams led NAU with 26 digs, the most by a Lumberjack all season. However, the narrow victory went to the Hornets.

Sacramento State struck first surviving a first set full of runs by both teams that eventually needed extra points to settle the score. After jumping out to a 5-1 lead, NAU saw its lead vanish when Sacramento State quickly knotted it back at 5-5. A five-point surge by the Hornets gave them a comfortable 16-9 lead, only for Kemper and Vander Ploeg to lead NAU back. The pair each contributed three kills during a 9-1 run that swung the tide to the Lumberjacks' favor, good for an 18-17 lead.

The teams stayed with each other throughout the rest of the set as Sacramento State reached set point first, 24-23. After NAU tied it, the Lumberjacks held off two more set points before dropping the close opening set.

The second set was even at 9-9 until NAU scored 12 of the next 14 points with the help from six Hornet errors. The Lumberjacks held a commanding 21-11 lead, but the Hornets would not go away quietly making NAU work to even the match. NAU needed four set points, but Vander Ploeg's kill finished the set to send the teams tied at 1-1 heading into the intermission.

Sacramento State took control of the third set early and maintained that control to an 18-13 lead. Like the first set, the Lumberjacks fought back with strong serving. Barton served two aces during a four-point run that brought NAU within 18-17 and Vander Ploeg's ace put the Lumberjacks ahead 20-19 for the first time in the set. The lead was short lived, but NAU did hold the first set point at 24-23. However, for the second time in the night, the Hornets prevailed in extra points taking the next three points and the 2-1 lead.

The fourth set played out similarly to the sets one and three with the only difference being that it did not need extra points to reach a decision. Sacramento State held a 19-12 lead before NAU made its run has it had all night. A block by Barton and sophomore Isabelle Gosar started a 6-2 Lumberjack spurt that also included a pair of Vander Ploeg kills. The Lumberjacks would fight back to 23-21 before a Hornet kill put the home team at match point. Back-to-back kills by Kemper and Vander Ploeg kept NAU in the match until the Hornets clinched the victory.

Kemper paced NAU with 15 kills along with 12 digs, while Vander Ploeg tallied 12 kills and 17 digs. Kemper also posted three blocks to move into third all-time in the school record books with 374 career blocks. Jacobsen finished with 10 kills and 15 digs and tied for the team-high with junior Payton Bock with five blocks. Barton recorded 41 kills and 13 digs along with five kills and three service aces.

NAU only hit .171 for the match, hitting above .200 in a set just once – the second set in which it won hitting .286. The Lumberjacks recorded a season-high 90 digs and outblocked the Hornets 13.5-10.0.

First serve in Portland on Saturday will be 8 p.m. Flagstaff time. It will be NAU's final match before next week's Big Sky Championships.