HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Northern Arizona volleyball team flexed their muscles and posted a well-rounded performance in sweeping St. Francis Brooklyn, 25-13, 25-13, 25-18, Saturday morning to conclude their season-opening weekend at the JMU Classic. The Lumberjacks hit .379, their best hitting percentage of the weekend, and held the Terriers to just a .043 clip as they will carry a 2-1 record into their home tournament next weekend.

"We definitely learned some things last night and applied them this morning," said head coach Ken Murphy. "We played hard on every point and stay focused. We competed at a high level for the entire match. Our team was a little disappointed about the outcome last night, but I do think they're taking it upon themselves as a challenge for us to improve. We know we're going to be a much better volleyball team a month or two months down the road so all in all, it was a really positive weekend for us."

Senior Janae Vander Ploeg and junior Lauren Jacobsen each posted match-highs of 12 kills and were incredibly efficient with Vander Ploeg hitting .417 and Jacobsen at .400. The duo combined for just four errors on 49 combined swings, but were far from the only effective NAU performers. Redshirt freshman Brittni Dorsey hit .429 in her first career collegiate start and senior Payton Bock hit .364 totaling six kills.

Aside from a 1-1 tie moments into the match, the Lumberjacks led throughout the opening set immediately reeling off four straight points sparked by two service aces from redshirt senior Stacia Williams. The 'Jacks coasted from there and eventually scored the final seven points in a dominating first set rebounding from their five-set loss to James Madison Friday night. Bock, Vander Ploeg and Jacobsen each recorded four kills in the set as NAU hit .483 to open the match – its highest set hitting percentage this weekend.

The Lumberjacks did not take their foot off the gas pedal to open the second set. With Vander Ploeg at the service line, recording two aces herself, NAU raced out to a 6-0 lead before an error got St. Francis Brooklyn on the scoreboard. It was a small blip on the radar as Jacobsen quickly got the point back on a kill as NAU held a 10-1 lead before the Terriers scored again. The 'Jacks never trailed for the second consecutive set on their way to another 25-13 set win, putting them one set away from their second sweep of the weekend.

The Terriers would not go away easily though, scoring four of the first five points during their first lead of the match, and led 10-6 in the early portion of the third set. Two Dorsey kills and a couple of Vander Ploeg aces later and NAU had tied the set 11-11, and two St. Francis errors later the Lumberjacks found themselves ahead 13-11. The Terrier deficit remained at two at 16-14, until a modest three-point run by NAU put enough deficit between the two teams. Redshirt freshman Kaylie Jorgenson's first career kill put the Lumberjacks at match point and a ball handling error by St. Francis Brooklyn put a cap on the Lumberjack sweep.

Senior Jordan Leiter (19 assists) and junior Jensen Barton (13 assists) split duties at setter in the Lumberjacks' best offensive showing of the tournament.

At the service line, the Lumberjacks surpassed their total from the first two matches combined with a season-high 10 aces. Vander Ploeg tied her career-high with four aces while Bock equaled her career total with a lifetime-best three aces.

Defensively, the 'Jacks outdug and outblocked their opponent for the third time in as many matches this weekend holding a 42-31 dig advantage and 8.0-3.0 block edge. Williams recorded a match-high 14 digs while Bock and Vander Ploeg each had four blocks with Vander Ploeg totaling three of the solo variety.

NAU will play its first home matches of 2015 next weekend hosting its own Lumberjack Classic Friday, Sept. 4 and Saturday Sept. 5 in the Rolle Activity Center. The 'Jacks play host to Houston Baptist on Friday at 6 p.m. in their home opener before playing two matches on Saturday versus Liberty and Loyola Marymount. The Lumberjacks went 10-1 in the Rolle last season and are 21-3 at home the last two seasons.