FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Northern Arizona volleyball team coasted, and then needed to show some resilience but in the end the Lumberjacks swept past Liberty, 25-14, 25-11, 25-23, in their Saturday morning match. With the win, NAU improved to 4-1 this season and a perfect 2-0 this weekend, setting the stage for the Lumberjack Classic tournament title tonight at 7 p.m. versus Loyola Marymount.

"We showed focus and tenacity throughout the match," said assistant coach Anna Gott. "We were able to get Liberty off the net; their middles get a lot of sets and they're very strong competitors. Serve pressure and our attack was key in getting them off the net and we did a great job with our right side blocking and left back defense against their outside attack."

For the third straight match, NAU hit upwards of .340, posting a .342 hitting percentage. Defensively, the Lumberjacks stifled the Lady Flames into a .108 hitting percentage. The contrast in offensive effectiveness extended to the kill count, where the Lumberjacks doubled up the Lady Flames, 51-25, in kills while holding Liberty to a mere four kills in the first set.

The 'Jacks never trailed in the first set, leading from the moment junior Addy Lofstedt's kill hit the floor on the opening point. With that, NAU was off the blocks fast registering six of the first seven points, but Liberty quickly responded with four points of its own to cut the Lumberjack lead to 6-5. While NAU tried to pull away, leading by as much as five, Liberty hung around trailing by just three at 17-14. Senior Payton Bock's kill made it 18-14, and was the first in a string of eight straight points to end the opening stanza.

NAU grabbed the early lead in the second set as well and led wire-to-wire to take a 2-0 lead in the match. The Lumberjack dominance could be directly attributed to their offensive attack with junior Jensen Barton running the show. In the second set alone, NAU hit .613 – the fifth best single set percentage (sets 1-4) since 2001 – totaling 19 kills on 31 attempts without a single error. Barton registered 18 of her season-high 43 assists in the set as NAU had no problems dispatching Liberty.

Out of the intermission, the Lady Flames set their sights on extending the match and led 11-9 before sophomore Kayla Guerrero stepped to the service line. Guerrero, making her first appearance of the season, served four straight points including an ace to put NAU in control 14-11, albeit for just a moment. After a Liberty sideout, the Lady Flames took the next seven points during a 9-1 run that left the Lumberjacks stunned.

"We talked about staying calm," Gott said. "We needed to relax and everything was going to be fine. The situation we were in, we just weren't playing like ourselves and we were able to refocus and play like we do every single day in practice."

Bock got the comeback starting with a kill that put NAU within 20-16 and followed with a tandem block with Barton to force a Liberty timeout. A timeout would not slow Jacobsen as she converted on three straight kills, with senior Janae Vander Ploeg on the bench for the majority of the set due to an injury, allowing the 'Jacks to storm all the way back to take a 22-20 lead. Ahead 23-21, Vander Ploeg returned to the court and immediately killed the ball putting NAU at match point before pounding the final point off the block to seal up the sweep.

"Janae plays such a huge role for us, and things got a little hectic," Jacobsen said. "I tried to put it on my shoulders to calm everyone down and we needed to go out there and do what we do in practice. Liberty was a lot tighter on the block and they were scrappy in the third game. They played their hearts out, but we were able to hold them off."

Jacobsen and Vander Ploeg each recorded double-doubles in the win while hitting over .320 each. Jacobsen led all players with 17 kills and 12 digs and continued her service supremacy with three more aces bringing her weekend total to eight. Vander Ploeg notched 11 kills, without an error, and 10 digs.

It was a total team effort though with Bock adding nine kills and five blocks – equaling Barton for the team-high. Lofstedt chipped in seven kills and four blocks herself and redshirt senior Stacia Williams recorded 11 digs.

The Lumberjack Classic presented by the Arizona Sports & Entertainment Commission will be decided in Saturday night's match between NAU and Loyola Marymount at 7 p.m. in the Rolle Activity Center. LMU rallied from a two-set deficit to defeat Houston Baptist in five sets in Saturday's first match.