BOZEMAN, Mont. – Ken Murphy became the second head coach to record 100 wins at the helm of the Northern Arizona volleyball program on Thursday, and in record-breaking fashion, with his Lumberjacks' 25-23, 21-25, 26-24, 25-17 victory in Montana State's Shroyer Gym. The win upped NAU's season record to 8-12 overall and 4-5 in conference play.
Murphy's 100th win as Lumberjack head coach came in just his 144th match, shattering Kelley Sliva McKee's pace. McKee, NAU's all-time winningest coach with 143 victories, needed 184 matches to win her 100th.
"We battled really hard and I was really proud of them," Murphy said. "We didn't receive serve as well as we're capable of, but we got into rallies and just fought for points in different ways. In the three sets we won, our defense was as tight as it's been all year. That's a sign of maturity and the work ethic that we value in our program and that was great to see tonight."
In NAU's three set wins, Montana State was limited to a combined .169 hitting, compared to a .389 clip in the Bobcats' second set win. For the match, the Lumberjacks hit .264 to the Bobcats' .221.
The 'Jacks rode the arm of freshman
Heaven Harris early and redshirt junior
Kaylie Jorgenson late to help Murphy achieve his milestone victory. Harris started fast with seven kills in the first set and wound up with a season-best 17. Meanwhile, Jorgenson blitzed the Bobcats with seven kills in the final set in finishing with a team-high 18.
Led by Harris' hammer, the Lumberjacks battled back from a deficit as large as six to claim the first set. The 'Jacks found themselves down 10-4, only to rally to tie the set at 11-11. They trailed 21-18, but Harris led the charge back with three consecutive kills to knot the score at 21-21. The set would remain tied until 23-23 before sophomores
Abby Stomp and
Abby Akin nailed down the victory with kills.
NAU fell behind 5-0 and although it was able to recover to tie the second set at 10-10, the Lumberjacks' offensive efficiency took a hit as they went into the locker room even at one set apiece. After hitting .277 in the first set, the 'Jacks slipped to .205 in the second as a late 4-0 run by the Bobcats to snap an 18-18 tie was too much to overcome.
Three straight points by NAU provided the Lumberjacks with a 14-11 advantage that they maintained until the Bobcats forged a late rally. Jorgenson and redshirt sophomore
Victoria Ewalefo stuffed a Montana State attack to put NAU within set point at 24-21, but MSU held off three straight points. Ewalefo buckled down and solo blocked the Bobcats on the ensuing point, and Harris closed the set with a kill off the Bobcat block.
Bottled up to the tune of 11 kills in the first three sets, Jorgenson broke loose in the final stanza. With four kills during a set-changing 6-0 run, Jorgenson and the Lumberjacks held a 15-8 lead and never relinquished it. The Bobcats did force an NAU timeout when they closed to 21-16, but the 'Jacks put the kibosh on any thoughts of another comeback by closing with four of the final five points – the last coming on redshirt junior
Brittni Dorsey's second ace of the match.
"
Abby Stomp did a really good job of distributing and that's especially hard when you're not receiving well," Murphy said. "We trust Kaylie a lot and we know throughout the match she's going to take a lot of swings, but eventually she'll get herself going. No doubt, Heaven carried us for a little bit. What I like about our team is we have a lot of people who can contribute."
Ewalefo notched her first career double-digit kill match, totaling 10 kills and hitting .500. Akin hit .353 and added nine kills, while Dorsey contributed four kills with Stomp registering 43 assists.
Stomp tallied her eighth double-double with a team-high 13 digs, tying her for team-high honors with senior
Brooke Donnelly. NAU recorded four of its nine team blocks in the fourth set to deny Montana State's bid to go the distance. Ewalefo led the team with five blocks.
The Lumberjacks look to even their Big Sky mark at 5-5 with a victory at Montana on Saturday. First serve in Missoula is 6 p.m. MST.
