FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – After a tight first set, the Northern Arizona volleyball team rolled past Sacramento State in three sets, 25-21, 25-14, 25-15, to close out the first weekend of conference play with two victories. The Lumberjacks utilized a balanced offensive attack and a huge presence at the net Saturday morning to improve to 2-0 in the Big Sky and 11-2 overall.

"(Sacramento State) did some different things than we thought they were going to do based on film," said head coach Ken Murphy. "I think our team was ready and we just had to make adjustments with our defensive alignment. After that, we did a good job. We're improving at keeping our composure when things aren't quite right and giving us time to make adjustments and improve as the match goes on."

With the first set tied at 8-8, a Hornet service error spearheaded a 4-0 run for NAU, with all four points coming off of Sacramento State errors. The spurt gave the Lumberjacks enough of a cushion in a set that featured seven ties and four lead changes to that point, as NAU maintained the advantage from there. The Hornets got within one at 18-17, but the 'Jacks pushed their lead back out to five with a 5-1 run and a kill from sophomore Isabelle Gosar wrapped up the set a few points later.

After allowing the Hornets to hit .216 in the opening set, the Lumberjacks' defense clamped down as Sacramento State hit .000 and .059 in the final two sets. Still, it was the Hornets who jumped out to an early 7-4 lead in the second set, forcing an NAU timeout. Quickly out of the break, sophomore Jensen Barton tapped a kill over the Hornet block to start the momentum-changing run in NAU's favor. Junior Payton Bock's kill snapped a 9-9 tie and she combined with senior Sydney Kemper on back-to-back blocks to follow to give the Lumberjacks a 12-9 lead. The Lumberjacks would take 21 of the final 28 points after their early deficit.

In the final set with junior Janae Vander Ploeg at the service line, the 'Jacks strung together seven consecutive points to turn a one-point deficit at 4-3 into a 10-4 lead they never relinquished. The Lumberjack block was active with five in the set, including three straight by Bock during a 5-0 NAU run to distance themselves from the visitors, and Kemper recorded five kills in as many swings in the final stanza.

The Lumberjacks buzzed the Hornets with 11.0 blocks to just 1.0 for Sacramento State. With NAU's block strong led by Bock and Kemper – who posted seven and six blocks respectively – the Hornets hit just .095 for the match.

"Our team's mentality is that we want to be physical with teams and take their best things away from them with our block," Murphy said. "But that was also part of the adjustments we made, realizing we needed to position ourselves differently. Once we did that, our block really provided us with points."

Along with their block at the net, the Lumberjacks' offensive balance was as strong as ever with no player taking more than 26 swings. Kemper led NAU with 10 kills and sophomore Lauren Jacobsen added eight. Gosar, Bock and Vander Ploeg each contributed at least six kills, as Barton tallied 31 assists in running the attack.

"Jensen did a really good job of distributing the ball and keeping Sac State off balance," Murphy said. "I like the fact that we can kill the ball at all positions and that we have the confidence to make up in other areas if we're low in one area."

Not to be outdone, the Lumberjacks' backrow play was on point with NAU holding a commanding 48-33 edge in digs. Redshirt junior Stacia Williams compiled a team-best 12 digs and Barton added 10 to notch her second double-double of the weekend and fourth this season.

The Lumberjacks will head out on the road for their first conference road trip next weekend, first traveling to play new Big Sky member Idaho in Moscow, Idaho on Thursday before concluding the trip in Cedar City, Utah versus Southern Utah on Saturday.