CHENEY, Wash. – The Northern Arizona volleyball team hit .316 and topped Eastern Washington in a dual between Big Sky division leaders, posting a clean 25-22, 25-20, 25-21 sweep to record their 11th straight victory. The Lumberjacks' 11-match win streak is tied for the second-longest in school history as they took another step towards securing the right to host the Big Sky Championships by improving to 22-4 overall and 12-1 in conference play.

"Eastern was playing at a really high level and they were hard to defend," said head coach Ken Murphy. They were strong in their systems, and I was impressed with our team's ability to adapt to the match. They found different ways to score points and they raised our offensive level."

Following EWU's Senior Night ceremonies, it was NAU senior Jordan Leiter who opened the match with two aces to give NAU a quick 3-0 lead. The Lumberjacks led until Eastern Washington took its first advantage at 12-11. Senior Janae Vander Ploeg and redshirt freshman Brittni Dorsey tied the set at 16-16 with a block, and the Eagles were forced to take a timeout down 20-18 following an ace by redshirt senior Stacia Williams. The Eagles eventually tied the set – for the 11th time – at 22-22, but senior Payton Bock and Vander Ploeg responded with kills. EWU sent an attack into the net on the final point, allowing the 'Jacks to prevail in the opener.

With the 1-0 lead in their back pocket, the 'Jacks fed Vander Ploeg early and often throughout the second set. Vander Ploeg ripped through the Eagle defense for nine kills in the set, including three plus a service error to push NAU out to a 7-4 edge. Despite steady pressure by Eastern Washington, the Lumberjacks clung to their lead throughout the remainder of the set. NAU sat at set point, 24-19, following a service ace by junior Jensen Barton, and fittingly Vander Ploeg capped the set with a kill two points later. NAU hit .483 to offset Eastern Washington's .462 clip in taking the 2-0 advantage in the match.

The Eagles kept the Lumberjacks grounded for most of the third set, turning a 10-10 tie into a 17-13 lead before three straight NAU points led to EWU calling a timeout. Redshirt freshman Emma Grimsrud stuffed the Eagles on a solo block to start a 4-1 strike by NAU – capped by another block from Jacobsen and Bock – that all but put the Eagles away. Bock wrapped up the victory with kills on NAU's final two points, as the Lumberjacks handed the North Division leading Eagles just their second home loss of the season.

In addition to their 11 straight overall wins, the Lumberjacks also matched the school record with six consecutive road victories. The 'Jacks finished conference play on the road at 7-1 and equaled the program record for most Big Sky road wins. In 2012, NAU played two more road matches to finish 7-3 away from Flagstaff, allowing this year's team to post the best conference road win percentage (.875) in school history.

"The character of this team showed once again tonight," Murphy said. "Tonight was a very tough environment and our team handled it. They played every point really tough and played from start to finish. It's an attribute to our toughness."

While the Eagles hit a very respectable .250 for the night, the Lumberjacks was rarely slowed offensively recording their second highest hitting percentage during conference play at .316. Barton handed out 34 assists in the victory, while the NAU attack only committed seven attack errors the entire evening.

Vander Ploeg paced the 'Jacks with 18 kills on .333 hitting, while Bock and Jacobsen notched nine and eight kills respectively. Bock hit a sparkling .400 and Jacobsen hit .250 to round out the attack.

Williams was strong in the back row, tallying 14 digs and she was joined in double-figures by Leiter, who posted 12 digs. Leiter also added three aces, all coming in the first set, among NAU's seven for the night. Dorsey was NAU's top blocker with three blocks.

The Lumberjacks, the overall conference leader and tops in the South Division, finish the regular season with three home matches beginning with Saturday's match in the Rolle Activity Center versus Southern Utah. NAU's match with Southern Utah starts at 7:30 p.m.