FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Northern Arizona volleyball team and Loyola Marymount both entered the final match of the Lumberjack Classic presented by the Arizona Sports & Entertainment Commission a perfect 2-0 this weekend. Only one team would leave Saturday night with an unblemished mark and the tournament title. After nearly 150 minutes of play, the Lumberjacks made sure the crown would stay in Flagstaff, sending the crowd of 652 into pandemonium in a match that will go down as one of the classics ever played in Rolle Activity Center.

In the end, the 'Jacks tamed the Lions, but it was far from easy in a 21-25, 28-26, 25-22, 22-25, 16-14 thriller fit for a tournament championship. NAU earned its first victory over LMU in eight all-time matchups and now sits at 5-1 following its most impressive victory of the young season. Loyola Marymount had been receiving votes in the most recent AVCA National Poll and had just swept No. 20 UCLA on the road a mere six days ago.

"Without our (second set) comeback, we wouldn't have had any momentum going into the third set," said assistant coach Anna Gott. "That set the tone for the rest of the match. We wrote on the board today, 'embrace this challenge.' The team did an outstanding job with that. They stayed patient and we were successful."

Senior Janae Vander Ploeg led all players with 26 kills, one shy of her career-high, and was named the Tournament MVP for her incredible performance. In three matches this weekend, she averaged 4.82 kills per set on a .328 hitting percentage. In the process she moved up jumped two spots to seventh all-time on the school's career kills chart currently with 1,166 kills.

Junior Lauren Jacobsen and redshirt senior Stacia Williams also earned spots on the All-Tournament team for NAU. Jacobsen averaged 4.18 kills per set and recorded nine service aces in three matches, while Williams averaged 4.36 digs per set.

The Lumberjacks made it known they were ready for the challenge jumping out to a 10-5 lead in the first set before the Lions tied the set at 10-10. In the closely contested set which featured nine ties and five lead changes, the two teams were knotted up at 19-19 until Loyola Marymount, behind a .344 set hitting percentage, finished on a 6-2 run to take the early advantage.

The outlook appeared to look a little bleak for the 'Jacks through the second set as they found themselves trailing 16-9 and eventually 21-13. Facing the possibility of going down two sets, Jacobsen ignited a furious NAU comeback with a kill. Putting together chunks of points in large part to an attack that came alive, the Lumberjacks pulled within 23-22 before they stared set point right in the face. After holding off three set points, the last at which Vander Ploeg's kill tied the set at 26-26, the 'Jacks completed the improbable comeback with the set's final three points clinching the match-tying point on a block by junior Addy Lofstedt and redshirt freshman Brittni Dorsey.

Right out of the gates in the third set, three straight Lion errors contributed to their early deficit before they fought back with a 5-0 run to take a 14-11 lead midway through. NAU was forced to play from behind once again and were successful at it with its defense keeping Loyola Marymount at bay to a match-low .028 clip. Still, the Lumberjacks trailed 22-20, until a kill from Jacobsen and four straight LMU attack errors put NAU within a set of the win.

However, the win would have to wait until the fifth. LMU's 12-5 lead in the fourth set vanished in a matter of moments as freshman Jordan Anderson served NAU to a 7-0 run that brought the set even at 12 apiece. Although the Lumberjacks were able to take a late lead at 18-17, the Lions recovered late with eight of the final 12 points from there to send the match to a decisive final set.

The match became a race to 15, but the fifth set wound up being a slugfest. With 10 ties and four lead changes – bringing the match total to 36 and 17 respectively – neither team held a significant edge. LMU was the first to eight, leading 8-6 at the court changeover, but it would be NAU who got to match point first, 14-13, following Jacobsen's 20th kill of the match. After the Lions staved off match point with a kill of their own, Jacobsen responded with her 21st and final kill. One point later, Loyola Marymount's attack went into the net immediately setting off NAU's celebration.

"It was a great weekend for our team," Vander Ploeg said. "It showed we have a lot of fight in us. We're never going to give up. We wanted to take it one point at a time because LMU is such a great team. We had to play our game and not theirs and when we play at our best, we can accomplish anything."

LMU finished with a significant edge in digs, 78-62, and outkilled NAU, 71-62, but were hampered by 37 attack errors. The Lumberjacks used a big block, totaling a season-high 14.0 team blocks, to limit the Lions to a .189 percentage for the map while hitting .244 themselves.

Vander Ploeg set a new career-high with 72 attacks as both her and Jacobsen – whose 21 kills is a new career-best – combined for 47 kills. Junior Jensen Barton recorded a season-high 53 assists in the victory and was in on six blocks, also a season-best. Senior Payton Bock fell one block shy of matching her career-high of 10, but managed to move into second place all-time in school history with 410 career blocks. Williams recorded 28 digs, falling one shy of her own lifetime best.

NAU has a short turnaround as it heads down to Tempe, Ariz. for a rare Tuesday night match versus Arizona State at 7 p.m. The Sun Devils are currently ranked No. 15 in the country and own a perfect 6-0 record.