SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Taking on the top team in the conference in The Nest, the Northern Arizona volleyball team refused to back down but ultimately fell short in a four-set defeat to Sacramento State on Saturday. NAU's bid to knock off the Big Sky's last remaining unbeaten team was denied late with Sacramento State holding on for a 25-23, 25-11, 22-25, 27-25 victory.
"Sacramento State is definitely the best team in conference we've played so far," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "But I was proud of how we fought back and there were a lot of points where we felt we were in control. Our big challenge is to keep raising our level so we can be better the next time we play them as well as the rest of the conference."
Several Lumberjacks set career-highs starting with sophomore
Abby Akin, who could not be contained for most of the match and finished with a lifetime-best 14 kills. She also tied a season-high with seven blocks among NAU's 12.0 team stuffs. Sophomore
Sydney Lema led the Lumberjacks with 16 kills, also a career-high, and hit a season-best .289.
Redshirt junior
Kaylie Jorgenson and junior
Jordan Anderson were strong in the back row as NAU recorded a season-high 92 digs. Jorgenson set a new career-high with 27 digs while Anderson matched her career-best of 25 digs. Lema (15) and senior
Dani Westfall (12) also finished in double-digits.
Akin started the afternoon fast recording six kills in the opening set, although the Hornets claimed the first set narrowly. Half of Akin's kills came during a three-point run that snapped a 10-10 in the Lumberjacks' favor. However Sacramento State hit .256 in the first stanza and used consecutive points to break a 22-all tie late to take the early advantage.
The second set was dominated by the Hornets as the 'Jacks struggled to get into a rhythm, posting a .000 hitting percentage after dropping the narrow first set. Sacramento State rushed out to a 5-0 lead, went on an 8-0 run midway through and rolled into the locker room with the first two sets in hand.
NAU moved past the disappointment in a big way and came alive at the net to extend the match. Redshirt junior
Brittni Dorsey provided the spark, having a hand in three of NAU's six blocks in the third set to overcome another 5-0 Hornet set-opening run. Even with an 8-0 run that provided NAU with an 18-13 lead, the 'Jacks still found themselves tied at 22-all. NAU managed to put away Sacramento State though with the final three points with Dorsey and Akin chipping in kills.
However, NAU could not force a decisive fifth set as the Hornets not only fought off four set points, but they wound up with six of the final seven to finish off the match. A 4-0 run capped by an Akin ace had the Lumberjacks playing with a lead from 15-12 until freshman
Heaven Harris' kill put them at set point at 24-21. After the Hornets tied it at 24-24, Lema gave NAU one final set point, but Sacramento State rallied to move to a perfect 8-0 in conference.
The Lumberjacks fell to 7-12 overall and wraps up the first half of conference play with a 3-5 Big Sky mark.
NAU wound up with a match hitting percentage of .193 compared to Sacramento State's .237 clip. The Hornets outblocked the Lumberjacks by a narrow margin of 14.0-12.0.
NAU tackles the Montana road swing next week before concluding the regular season with five of its last six matches at home. The Lumberjacks play at Montana State on Thursday and finish the weekend at Montana next Saturday.
