MOSCOW, Idaho – In a battle between the defending WAC Champion Northern Arizona swimming & diving team and last year's WAC runner-up Idaho, the Lumberjacks posted a dominating effort to claim early season bragging rights between the two conference rivals on Friday, notching a 185-115 dual win at the Vandals' home pool. NAU, led by a pair of top three diving sweeps and a pair of victories by senior Alexis Juergens and freshman Alina Staffeldt, picked up its first dual meet victory of the season.

"It was a big win for us and we had great team energy and team effort," said head coach Andy Johns. "To come the Vandals' home pool and win 11 events is huge. We beat the WAC Swimmer of the Year, Rachel Millet, in her home pool in the 100 back and that changed the tide. Then Alina beats (Jamie) Sterbis, who made NCAAs last season, in the 200 fly and they were deflated. We got pumped up and kept going. We were much better than two weeks ago and that's what we were looking for."

Not only did the 'Jacks pick up victories in 11 of the 16 events, but NAU racked up five one-two finishes and recorded three of the top four scoring finishes in seven total events.

After Idaho took the victory in the 200 medley relay, junior Kendall Brown notched her second win in as many dual meets this season in the 1,000 free with a time of 10:20.04. Millet, the reigning WAC Swimmer of the Year, followed with a win in the 200 free, but the Lumberjacks countered by taking the next three spots occupied by freshman Claire Hammond, senior Caitlin Wright and freshman Kimmy Richter.

Idaho held a slim 29-27 lead heading into the first of two marquee wins for NAU, as sophomore Jori Lindquist's time of 58.05 just edged out Millet's 58.53 in the 100 back. Lindquist's victory exchanged the lead into the Lumberjack's favor only for Idaho to reclaim a 49-46 lead after a win in the 100 breast.

What followed in the 200 fly really swung the momentum towards NAU as Staffeldt continued her spectacular start to her freshman season, defeating Sterbis by a second a half in the 200 fly with a time of 2:01.02. Coupled with a third-place finish by Brown and a fourth-place finish by junior Eva Pold, the Lumberjacks jumped back in front, 60-54, and pushed forward with the first of Juergens' two wins in the 50 free, narrowly beating Idaho's Sami Hendricks to the wall by .02 seconds.

NAU's divers continued its exceptional start to the season by sweeping the 3-meter board with Chelsea Jackson leading the way with a score of 300.30. Out of the first break, Staffeldt took the 100 free and freshman Melanie Harris answered Millet's win in the 200 back with her own victory in the 200 breast. Harris' win started a stretch of five straight NAU victories followed by Wright in the 500 free, Juergens in the 100 fly, sophomore Alexa Geiger on the 1-meter springboard and junior Monica Pruett in the 200 IM. In the four events following the 200 breast, the Lumberjacks took the first two spots including a second three-spot sweep in diving.

"(Diving coach) Nikki (Huffman) does a great job with our divers and it's great to see Chelsea Jackson and Lex Geiger push each other on any given day," Johns said. "To have a 26-point cushion just in diving helps our whole team. Between swimming and diving, I feel that we are a pretty good complete team."

Idaho finished the day with a win in the 400 free relay, but the Lumberjacks took the final two scoring spots.

The win was NAU's second straight dual meet victory against Idaho and was a stark contrast to its last visit to Moscow in which the Vandals won in a similar convincing manner, 177.5-122.5.

The Lumberjacks complete their trip to the Northwest on Saturday, as they will compete against Washington State in Pullman, Wash. at 12 p.m.