Photo Courtesy of Kalli Chason

PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland State may have been the home team Thursday night, but the Vikings were the ones invited to the Northern Arizona volleyball block party as the Lumberjacks used a season-high 16.0 team blocks to win their conference opener in four sets. The 'Jacks needed a big third set rally with the match tied at one set apiece, but were able to improve to 11-3 overall and 1-0 in conference with a 25-21, 24-26, 25-20, 25-17 win.

"Portland State played great and they put some pressure on us that we probably didn't respect so I give them a lot of credit," said head coach Ken Murphy. "What we were able to do though was refocus on ourselves and score some points at some big moments to push us forward. It's hard to win on the road in this conference and we need to be ready. We have to do a good job of controlling our side and not being distracted by the environment on the road. Our team knows we need to get better at that and they're up to the challenge."

The win was the Lumberjacks' second straight at the Vikings' Peter W. Stott Center after a decade-long losing streak in Portland. It is the first time they have won consecutive games on PSU's home court since winning four straight from 1998-2001.

Twelve of NAU's 16 blocks came in the final two sets with senior Payton Bock equaling her season-high of nine blocks to lead all players. Junior Jensen Barton added seven blocks and redshirt Emma Grimsrud tallied a career-high tying four blocks despite being inserted on the court late in the third set. Junior Addy Lofstedt also contributed four blocks.

The first set was evenly played for most of the set with the exception of a critical 5-0 run by the 'Jacks which turned a 4-4 tied into a 9-4 advantage in their favor. Despite the Lumberjacks' high hitting percentage of .355 to start the night, they could not shake the Vikings as they hung close as late as 23-21. On the next point, Bock put down a kill to get NAU to set point and senior Jordan Leiter put the set away with an ace.

NAU was not the only team with strong play at the net as Portland State used its block in a big way to even the match, recording seven of its 13.0 blocks in the second set. NAU appeared to have control following four consecutive kills by senior Janae Vander Ploeg, Barton, Lofstedt and junior Lauren Jacobsen to give the Lumberjacks a 9-4 lead. Portland State eventually tied the set at 17-all and took the lead at 19-18. After the 'Jacks reclaimed the lead, 23-22, the Vikings got to set point at 24-23. Vander Ploeg held off the clincher once with a kill, but Portland State took the next two points to head into intermission.

The Vikings rode their wave of momentum in the third set all the way to a 12-6 lead, but NAU regained its composure with a pair of kills from Bock and an ace from freshman Jordan Anderson to cut the deficit to 13-11. The Viking lead remained at 18-16 until consecutive Vander Ploeg aces and a block by Lofstedt and Grimsrud put NAU in front, 19-18, for the first time in the set. The Lofstedt and Grimsrud rejection was the first in a flurry of Lumberjack blocks as NAU stifled Portland State from there. Three more blocks, including on the final point by Bock and Jacobsen, was part of a set-ending 10-2 run that propelled the 'Jacks to the third set win.

Barton and Bock kept the blocking theme going with back-to-back stuffs at the net to start the fourth set. The 'Jacks rolled to victory, never trailing after their third set comeback. Portland State did keep it close as its deficit was only 17-15, but Bock and Vander Ploeg kept NAU going with kills to push the Lumberjack advantage back to four points. Using eight blocks in the final set alone to stymie Portland State into a sub-zero percentage of -.044, NAU fittingly concluded the match with a Vander Ploeg and Grimsrud block.

"Emma did a great job and slowed them down, but she also finished some blocks," Murphy said. "I also thought our right (side) did a really good job. Addy had a big block late in the third set that gave us a lot of momentum and Jensen was also strong. Once we picked up our block, things started going our way."

Vander Ploeg once again led NAU with 19 kills and also contributed a pair of aces and blocks. Along with her nine blocks, Bock added eight kills and hit .438. Barton recorded 40 assists and seven kills without an error on 11 attempts, while Jacobsen led NAU with 15 digs. Redshirt senior Stacia Williams also hit double-digits with 11 digs.

The 'Jacks hit .271 in the match while the Vikings were held to a .144 clip.

NAU finishes off the first weekend of conference play Saturday afternoon with a date with Sacramento State at The Nest at 1 p.m. The Hornets won their conference opener in five sets Thursday night versus Southern Utah to improve to a Big Sky overall best 14-2.