SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Down 8-1 and having dropped two of the first three sets, the Northern Arizona volleyball team faced a gut check time. The Lumberjacks would respond and nearly kept their season alive, but in the end they saw their season come to an end with a 13-25, 25-16, 25-13, 26-24 loss in the Big Sky quarterfinals to Portland State. NAU finished the season with a 13-15 record.
"That (fourth) set, and really the entire match, was a microcosm of our entire season," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "We put ourselves in a hole, but we were so resilient. We put ourselves in a great position. When you look at that, you say 'let's be more consistent,' but I take the positive out of it. We fought so hard and nothing was too big for us."
NAU controlled the service line with 13 aces – its second-highest total of the season – and when the Lumberjacks were rolling, they had their service on point. Sophomore
Sydney Lema tied a career-high with four aces with redshirt junior
Kaylie Jorgenson and sophomore
Abby Akin each posting three.
"It was clear that when we were able to put pressure on them with our serve, and even with our block as well, so many things went our way," Murphy said. "It was night and day; when they were receiving really well they were way ahead of us. It's rare to be in a match where there is such a big discrepancy."
All but one of NAU's 13 aces occurred outside the first and fourth sets. Not coincidentally, those were the most competitive for the Lumberjacks.
Portland State appeared to be well on its way to a berth in the semifinals, but the fifth-seeded Lumberjacks had something to say about that. Facing an 8-1 fourth-set deficit, NAU methodically inched back, first scoring four consecutive points with senior
Brooke Donnelly at the line. NAU continued to hack away, and briefly snagged a 19-18 lead on another kill by Akin. However, Portland State took back the momentum with four straight points.
Redshirt sophomore
Brittni Dorsey would tie the fourth set at 22-22, and freshman
Heaven Harris held off one match point with a thunderous kill. The Vikings scored the next point, and in an unfortunate ending, the Lumberjacks' season reached an abrupt end when a Viking kill landed inside the back line on the second match point.
The match started off on a rousing note with the 'Jacks riding the power of the ace – eight of them to be exact – in a dominating first set. All four of Lema's aces came in the opener, with her first two forcing a Viking timeout at 8-2 in favor of the 'Jacks. Jorgenson posted consecutive aces to make it a 15-6 margin, and Lema added two more late in the set. Lema's damage was not limited to the service line as she also tallied five kills as NAU rolled into the second set.
The tide quickly turned though in the opposing corner with Portland State, the No. 4 seed, winning the next two sets with ease. Portland State immediately put an end to NAU's momentum by scoring the first five points of the second set. Although the Lumberjacks climbed back and trailed just 9-8 on an Akin kill, an ensuing 8-1 Portland State run put NAU in too large of a hole to ultimately overcome.
The third set was more of the same as the Vikings took an early lead in the third set and only extended their advantage, hitting .293 to win easily. As brief as it was, a 4-1 Portland State was all the Vikings needed as it snapped a 3-3 lead. Portland State closed with seven of the last eight points and won the third set decisively.
After hitting .406 in the first set, NAU struggled to find consistent offense winding up with a .172 hitting percentage. Portland State hit .237 in the victory.
Akin was the only Lumberjack in double-figures with 11 kills while not committing an error. Dorsey hit .500 with six kills, but no other Lumberjack hit better than .200. Akin also had a hand in four of NAU's 7.0 team blocks.
Junior
Jordan Anderson paced the four 'Jacks in double-digit digs with 20, recording her fifth match of 20 or more digs.
