FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – In a match that unfortunately mirrored their last, the Northern Arizona volleyball team were victims to a hot hitting opponent as the Lumberjacks suffered a narrow 25-23, 25-22, 25-23 sweep to Eastern Washington. The Eagles swooped into the Rolle Activity Center and set the tone in the first set before finishing with a whopping .341 attack clip to hand the 'Jacks (6-10, 2-3 Big Sky) their second consecutive defeat.
"What's frustrating is that we're clearly talented and we run our offense almost effortlessly at times, but we haven't found that defensive identity that in my mind is the cornerstone of our program," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "There've been some matches that we've gotten in a good flow defensively and we've been able to carry through. However, consistently, if we don't start that way we can never find it."
The first set told the entire story on Thursday with the Eagles squeaking out a tight game with an attack that was just slightly better than the Lumberjacks'. In a set with 14 ties, Eastern Washington pulled out the early edge by hitting .500 to NAU's .417. NAU tied the opener at 23-all with a kill from sophomore
Sydney Lema – who paced the Lumberjacks with 12 kills – but Eastern Washington finished with the final two kills.
NAU hit .295 in the loss with redshirt sophomore
Victoria Ewalefo, sophomore
Abby Akin and freshman
Heaven Harris combining for 23 kills and zero errors – a .561 clip between them. Yet, the Lumberjacks only totaled 3.0 blocks – matching a season-low – in an effort to slow down the Eagles.
A 12-5 run by the visitors left the 'Jacks with their largest hole of the match to dig out from at 22-15 in the second set, but the Blue & Gold managed to make things interesting with a late rally. A 6-1 ensuing NAU run closed the gap to 23-21 only for the Lumberjacks to fall short.
Facing a seven-point deficit yet again at 21-14 in the third set, the Lumberjacks cranked up the pressure once more in a furious effort to extend the match. An Eagle service error gave the Lumberjacks side out and Lema took full advantage of it with four straight aces to pull NAU within 21-19. Akin capped a three-point spurt with a kill to tie the match one final time at 22-22, but the Eagles responded out a timeout with three of the last four points to complete the sweep.
Behind Lema's dozen kills, Harris finished with 11 in her third consecutive match hitting upwards of .600. Senior
Dani Westfall and sophomore
Abby Stomp each recorded 19 assists in running NAU to its third-highest offensive efficiency of the season.
NAU will try to get back in the win column on Saturday with a 12 p.m. match against Idaho in the Rolle Activity Center. With the Family Weekend football game to follow, all fans will receive free admission to the Lumberjacks' meeting with the Vandals on Saturday.
