POCATELLO, Idaho – What was a head-to-head match between two 9-1 teams, the Northern Arizona volleyball team enjoyed a special night on Thursday, sweeping Idaho State, 25-17, 26-24, 25-19 to claim sole possession of first place in the Big Sky Conference. As joyous of a night as it was for the Lumberjacks as a team, their senior leader Janae Vander Ploeg had a milestone night herself, becoming the school's all-time leader in career kills.

Vander Ploeg's first kill in the third set was the record-breaker, her 1,483rd career kill in the Lumberjack Blue and Gold, and she finished the night with a match-high 16 kills. She hit .357 in the winning effort and posted her third match in her last four with only one error.

"The thing about Janae, and it's the biggest thing, is that she's so humble and she's unaware of her accomplishments," said head coach Ken Murphy. "She's only thinking about the team's success and if you're going to have someone lead your school in kills, you hope they're someone like Janae. Words can't describe how important she's been to our program."

The Lumberjacks handed the Bengals their first home loss of the season, and holds the critical head-to-head tiebreaker with their South Division rivals. Thursday's win was also significant as it clinched NAU's second consecutive 20-win season and improved their season-best win streak to nine matches. Now at 20-4 overall and 10-1 in conference, NAU also punched its ticket to the Big Sky Championships.

The two heavyweights entered the ring and seemed destined for another traditional nail-biter until the end after eight ties through the first 26 points. However, it was a tale of two halves as consecutive NAU kills from Vander Ploeg and junior Jensen Barton swung the tide in NAU's favor with the first set tied at 13-13. Vander Ploeg and redshirt freshman Brittni Dorsey then put up a wall on the Bengals on the next point, forcing an ISU timeout. After a Bengal sideout, Vander Ploeg started a five-point NAU surge that backed the Bengals into a corner. The 'Jacks finished the set on a 12-4 run and limited ISU to only .049 hitting to snag the first stanza.

The second set was also a battle with 13 tie scores, before junior Lauren Jacobsen ripped a cross court kill on NAU's second set point heading into intermission. ISU held the early lead, but the Lumberjacks led through most of the set. Three straight points from the Bengals tied the score at 19-19 and the teams were still even until 23-23. A Vander Ploeg kill put NAU at set point, only for Idaho State to temporarily stave off a 2-0 deficit. Prior to Jacobsen's set-clinching kill, Vander Ploeg crossed the Bengals for her record-tying swing.

Vander Ploeg quickly proceeded to break Tami Burchard's 18-year school record with a kill that fell right in front of the ISU libero to put NAU ahead 7-4 in the third set. The Lumberjacks led the entire way and pulled away with a four-point run capped by a Vander Ploeg ace to push their lead out to 17-11. NAU had no thoughts of giving Idaho State hope, hitting a match-best .300 in the third set and finished the sweep with a block by Dorsey and junior Addy Lofstedt.

"After we played (Idaho State) the first time, our team talked in the locker room about how we could execute better," Murphy said. "We came into a tough environment and did that. They did exactly what they said they could do and I couldn't be more proud of this group for being tough enough to live up to that."

The 'Jacks led across the board and repeatedly had the Bengals searching for answers. Offensively, Barton set the NAU attack to a .276 hitting percentage as the Lumberjacks held the kills edge at 41-35. She recorded 33 assists, setting Vander Ploeg, Jacobsen, Lofstedt and senior Payton Bock masterfully. All four hitters hit better than .286, with Jacobsen also tallying double-digit kills with 10.

Defensively, Jacobsen posted a match-high 15 digs to record her 11th double-double. Barton also finished with a double-double with 12 digs, and senior Jordan Leiter and redshirt senior Stacia Williams each posted 10. Their efforts helped NAU to a 54-46 dig advantage, while Dorsey and Bock each tallied four blocks to lead the Lumberjacks to an 8.0-3.0 block advantage and limiting the Bengals to .122 hitting for the match.

As dominant as the Lumberjacks were, Vander Ploeg ruled the night with her career total at 1,485 kills to end the night.

"It's an accomplishment that I couldn't do without my team – especially the digs and the passes and all the sets from all the setters I've had since I've been here," Vander Ploeg said. "The credit should go to them because I couldn't have done it without them. Idaho State is always such a good team, and we came out with high energy. I couldn't be more proud of this team than I am tonight."

The 'Jacks next make the short trip to Ogden, Utah to face Weber State, Saturday night at 6 p.m.