FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Northern Arizona volleyball team let four match points slip for a sweep, but the Lumberjacks avoided a similar fate a set later, denying Portland State, 25-21, 25-16, 26-28, 25-22, for a victory in the teams' Big Sky opener. The Lumberjacks successfully bounced back from a pair of losses a week ago to open the conference season to improve to 10-2 overall and 1-0 in Big Sky play Thursday night in the Rolle Activity Center.

"(The third set) was mentally tough on us," said head coach Ken Murphy. "I think we were trying to make the last point so impressive to blow the crowd up and we did some uncharacteristic things and lost our composure. Portland State played the last two sets really well and the fact that we were able to respond especially halfway through the fourth when we were down a few points was impressive."

Behind a sensational all-around effort by sophomore Jensen Barton, the Lumberjacks notched an impressive victory over the defending Big Sky regular season co-champions with solid play on both sides of the net. The 'Jacks jumped out to a big 12-4 lead in the first set, but the Vikings answered with six straight points to climb back within two and eventually held a 19-18 lead. A kill by junior Payton Bock tied the set and by the time Barton recorded her first ace of the night, NAU held a 22-19 lead on its way to the first set victory.

Barton contributed three aces during a momentum-swinging 7-0 run in the second set, busting open NAU's advantage to 15-7. The cushion was more than enough for the Lumberjacks as they failed to lead by less than five points the remainder of the set in claiming the 2-0 advantage. Sophomore Addy Lofstedt's third kill of the set off the Viking block sent NAU into the intermission one set win from a sweep and capped off a stanza in which she also added two blocks.

The third set was played evenly throughout until the Lumberjacks seemingly appeared to be on the verge of a sweep when a block by Bock and senior Sydney Kemper was the final point of a 4-0 run that gave NAU a 23-19 lead. Two points later, junior Vander Ploeg put NAU at match point at 24-20, but Portland State fought off four straight match points to send the set to extra points before winning 28-26.

The momentum seemed to be all on the Vikings' side as the visitors held a 16-13 lead, but NAU managed to tie the scoreboard at 16-all. The score remained tied as late as 20-20 before Bock and Kemper combined for another block to snap the final stalemate of the match. Bock followed with a kill and sophomore Lauren Jacobsen notched the team's 10th ace of the match – setting a new season-high for NAU – to force a PSU timeout at 23-20. Facing a similar scenario as the third, the Lumberjacks needed to find a way to close and on Vander Ploeg's 20th and final kill of the match, NAU closed out Portland State for the four-set win.

"We came out like it was just another game and we played the way we know we can," Barton said. "Coach told us we needed to stick to our priorities (after the third set) and not let them put pressure on us. We stuck with our priorities and that helped us win."

Barton had perhaps her finest performance of her young career, setting the NAU offense to 44 assists and setting a new career-high with five service aces. She also tied her career-best with seven kills on just eight attempts, and recorded her third double-double of the season with 12 digs.

Vander Ploeg's 20 kills led all players and is the highest total by any Lumberjack this season. She notched her seventh double-double with 14 digs. Redshirt junior Stacia Williams led a strong defensive team effort – five Lumberjacks posted double-digit digs – with 16 digs, while Bock posted a team-high four blocks along with her 10 kills.

"Starting strong in conference is important for us, but learning from this experience and trying to find ways to improve is just as important," Murphy said. "I liked our fight and the way we were able to regain our composure. There were four or five times in the match where things were easy for us, and then we lost our composure. I was really impressed that we were able to come back and play our style again."

NAU outhit Portland State .255-.202 and outblocked the Vikings 11.0-10.0. The 10 service aces were the most the Lumberjacks have posted in a match since they recorded 10 in a four-set win against Montana on Sept. 17, 2011.

The Lumberjacks look to complete a perfect conference-opening weekend on Saturday at 12 noon versus Sacramento State at the Rolle Activity Center. Admission is free for all fans leading up to the Family Weekend football game in the Skydome.