HONOLULU, Hawaii – The Northern Arizona volleyball team fell to Hawai'i in three sets, 25-20, 25-23, 25-18, to close out their non-conference schedule Saturday night in Honolulu and saw their record drop to 9-2 heading into the Big Sky season. Although the result – a three-set sweep – was the same as the night before, the team's performance was anything but the same as the Lumberjacks showcased growth and grit in defeat.

"I saw a lot of growth in our team," said head coach Ken Murphy. "For the most part, we were toe-to-toe the entire match. We played really well defensively and we executed really well offensively and it came down to service aces and errors. Hawai'i executed at a really high level in that aspect. To know that was the difference but we played the rest of the match evenly, I was really proud of our effort."

Showing no intimidation in front of a raucous Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 6,454, the Lumberjacks came out and outhit the Rainbow Wahine in the first set, .278-.250 but did not have the set win to show for it. After sticking with Hawai'i point-for-point at 10-all, the Rainbow Wahine managed to string together four straight points to take the lead. Sophomore Lauren Jacobsen's kill brought the 'Jacks to 16-14 before seeing the four of the next five points go the other way and eventually dropping the first set.

The beginning of the second set was controlled by NAU with Jacobsen contributing a pair of kills during NAU's 4-1 opening run. Trailing 10-8, Hawai'i erased the Lumberjack lead with seven straight points to take a 15-10 advantage and never trailed from there. The short end of the scoreboard did not deter the Lumberjacks though as they answered with a 6-1 run late to climb within one at 19-18. Led by junior Janae Vander Ploeg who chipped in three kills late, NAU found itself down 24-23, but its rally would fall just short a point later.

Looking to finish off a quick night, Hawai'i struck early with a 7-3 lead after the intermission, only to see the Lumberjacks respond with four kills during a stretch in which they evened the score at 8-8. The teams exchanged blows midway through the set and following a Vander Ploeg kill, NAU trailed by just two at 20-18. However, the Rainbow Wahine would finish with a flurry and capture the final five points to hand NAU a hard fought defeat.

A night after hitting a season-low .137, the Lumberjacks hit .254 on Saturday. Sophomore Jensen Barton ran a balanced offensive attack with all six starters recording at least five kills. Jacobsen and senior Sydney Kemper paced the 'Jacks with nine kills apiece.

NAU also was furious on defense, extending countless rallies with redshirt junior Stacia Williams leading the charge with 14 digs. Both Kemper (12) and Vander Ploeg (11) also recorded double-digit digs.

The difference on the night was at the service line though as Hawai'i held the edge in aces (9-5) and NAU committing 11 errors compared to just three by the Rainbow Wahine.

Still in defeat, the Lumberjacks displayed an effort against one of the country's top programs that they hope to carry into the conference season beginning next Thursday.

"This is a program-building weekend for us in the sense that we're not used to playing in these types of matches in this kind of environment against this caliber of team," Murphy said. "It's so apparent that we learned so much from the first point until the last point from an improvement (on the court) to our understanding of what we're capable of. There were a lot of positives."

NAU opens the conference season next Thursday at home versus Portland State at 7 p.m. in the Rolle Activity Center. The Lumberjacks will also host Sacramento State on Saturday at 12 noon.