FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Northern Arizona volleyball team fought all the way back to a fifth set, but a 4-0 final set deficit was too much to eventually overcome as the Lumberjacks fell 25-23, 25-18, 23-25, 20-25, 15-11 to Weber State in the Rolle Activity Center. NAU's four-match winning streak came to an end Thursday, but not without the 'Jacks battling back to go the distance after dropping the first two sets.
Despite the loss, the Lumberjacks (11-13, 7-6 Big Sky) clinched a spot in the Big Sky Championships with Montana State's loss to Sacramento State. NAU will make its sixth straight appearance in the conference tournament.
"We wanted to get into a defensive flow and we got to a point where that started to happen," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "In the third and fourth set, we held them to good numbers, but it was such an uneven match for us from start to finish in terms of our intensity. We put ourselves in a vulnerable situation, but I thought we did improve as the match went on."
The Lumberjacks could not get into a groove offensively all night as the Wildcats kept the 'Jacks under .200 hitting in every set. The Lumberjacks only managed to hit .148 on the evening, but their defense kept them in the match throughout their offensive struggles.
After allowing Weber State to hit .229 and .371 in the first and second sets respectively, the Lumberjacks' block emerged to shut down the Wildcats to a .120 combined clip in the next two sets. NAU tallied six of its 10.0 blocks in the third and fourth sets with redshirt junior
Brittni Dorsey, sophomore
Abby Akin and freshman
Heaven Harris each recording three.
However, the Lumberjacks could not maintain their momentum into the fifth set as the Wildcats stunned them with the first four points in a blink of an eye. NAU did climb back within 8-7 on a combo block by Dorsey and sophomore
Abby Stomp, which forced a Weber State timeout, only for Weber State to score the next four points. The 'Jacks had one more run in them to close to 12-10, but once more the Wildcats answered out of a timeout with two points to get to match point.
NAU found itself in a two-set hole due to a Weber State attack that looked unstoppable at times. The Lumberjacks had their chances though early including a 21-20 lead in the first set before surrendering three straight points. NAU then fell victim to a 7-2 Weber State run in the second set that broke open a 7-7 tie.
Sophomore
Sydney Lema led the Lumberjacks in the third set, picking up four of her nine kills, as NAU survived to play another set following 11 ties and six lead changes. While Lema had the hot hand, it was Dorsey who finished off the Wildcats late. After a kill from redshirt junior
Kaylie Jorgenson tied the third game at 22-all, Dorsey tallied two kills and a block in the final three points.
NAU nearly blew a sizeable 19-14 lead in the fourth set, but regained its footing in time to force a fifth set. After Weber State sliced its deficit with a 4-0 run, NAU scored the next two and wound up claiming six of the last eight points to tie the match at two sets apiece. Akin totaled five kills on six swings in the fourth set.
Jorgenson recorded a team-high 15 kills with Akin and Harris finishing with 10 each. Dorsey, making her first start since Sept. 9, totaled a season-high seven kills and hit a season-best .583 while tying Harris for team-high honors with five blocks.
Junior
Jordan Anderson (22), Lema (22) and Jorgenson (20) gave the Lumberjacks three players with 20 or more digs in a match for the first time this season.
The 'Jacks will face Idaho State, also coming off a five-set loss to Southern Utah on Thursday, in the Rolle Activity Center at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
