PHOENIX, Ariz. – Senior Janae Vander Ploeg was too much for UC Riverside to handle Saturday morning recording her seventh double-double of the season with 19 kills and 15 digs and in the process became the fifth player in school history to record 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs. Behind Vander Ploeg's performance, the Northern Arizona volleyball team (9-3) took care of business, 25-20, 25-16, 22-25, 25-16, to win their second match of the GCU Invite.

"It's really unbelievable," Vander Ploeg said of her milestone. "It's such an honor to be in the same mention as the four previous players in NAU history to accomplish this and it's one of those things that you can't do without your team. I'm so thankful I was able to come to NAU and play with the girls I've had the chance to play with because I couldn't do anything without my teammates."

Vander Ploeg joined former Lumberjack greats Angel Leath, Tami Burchard, Chelsea Robb and Ellie Butterfield as players in the 1,000/1,000 club.

The Highlanders jumped out to a 4-2 lead before Vander Ploeg caught fire with three of her seven first set kills during a 5-0 run by the 'Jacks. NAU maintained its lead, yet UC Riverside kept it tight closing to 17-16 after a service ace. Another Highlander ace tied the score at 18-18 and UCR eventually claimed a brief lead at 20-19. Consecutive kills by junior Lauren Jacobsen and senior Payton Bock would put the NAU back in front and the 'Jacks did not look back, taking the final six points and the early 1-0 lead.

NAU rode the hot arm of junior Addy Lofstedt to a 2-0 lead in the match with Lofstedt recording five kills in the second set. A 4-1 NAU lead to open the second set quickly turned into a 7-6 UC Riverside advantage, but as the end of the opening period played out, the Lumberjacks got back on track with kills from Jacobsen, Bock and Lofstedt to retake the lead. Lofstedt continued to find the open space, putting down three kills during a four-point NAU burst that pushed its lead to 19-12. A UC Riverside timeout did not slow down the 'Jacks as Lofstedt and redshirt freshman Brittni Dorsey teamed for a pair of blocks. By the end of an 8-0 run, NAU led 23-12 and Lofstedt fittingly finished off the stanza with a kill.

Senior Jordan Leiter served NAU during a five-point run, including her second ace of the day, to put the Lumberjacks ahead 8-5 in the third set. NAU led by as much as five at 13-8, only to see its lead disappear courtesy of a 6-0 UC Riverside run. Although Jacobsen got the point back on a kill to the set at 14-14, the Highlanders held strong using a 6-1 run to reach set point at 24-19. It would take four set points for the Highlanders due to a Jacobsen kill and a kill and ace from Vander Ploeg, but UC Riverside was able to stay alive.

The Lumberjacks responded in the fourth set with authority racing to a 7-2 lead with Vander Ploeg and Bock combining for five kills. The fast start was all NAU needed as its lead never shrunk to less than five points the rest of the way. Midway through, Vander Ploeg picked up her 999th and 1,000th career digs during a rally in the highlight of the fourth set. NAU completed the victory with a service ace by junior Jensen Barton scoring the final three points of the match.

"We got some things in rolling today, in the second set in particular," said head coach Ken Murphy. "We had a lot of pieces going right and Riverside played a little bit better in the third set. To their credit they came out hard and what I told our team was that we needed to focus on what we do in the fourth set. In the fourth set, we got our defense in rhythm again and created the outcome we worked for."

Vander Ploeg hit .349 in the match and added two service aces and a block to her line. Jacobsen wrapped up the match with 13 kills on a .435 hitting percentage while Bock and Lofstedt each chipped in 15 combined kills with both hitting an identical .333 clip. Barton handed out 41 assists, while Dorsey totaled a team-high five blocks. Redshirt senior Stacia Williams recorded 14 digs and Leiter led the team with three aces.

NAU hit .350 for the match and held UC Riverside to only a .167 percentage. The 'Jacks also held a commanding 11.0-2.0 advantage in blocks.

The 'Jacks conclude the GCU Invite tonight with the host Grand Canyon at 6 p.m. in Antelope Gymnasium.