MATCH NOTES (PDF)

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - The Northern Arizona volleyball team, winners of five of their last six, faces a difficult final week of the regular season starting with North Dakota on Thursday on the road at 6 p.m. MST. NAU will then travel back to Flagstaff for its home finale and Senior Day for Brooke Donnelly, Emma Grimsrud and Dani Westfall on Saturday versus Southern Utah at 1 p.m. in the Rolle Activity Center.

"The challenge this week is both the opponents and the travel," said head coach Ken Murphy. "I'm so proud of our team for everything they've overcome; learning how to deal with distractions and fatigue and all the things that come with a high level volleyball season. I'm really confident that they're going to handle this test better than any of our previous ones. We're excited about using these final matches and practices to be our best at the conference tournament."

The Lumberjacks would currently own the fifth seed in next week's Big Sky Championships courtesy of a tiebreaker over Idaho State. NAU completed the season sweep of the Bengals last Saturday at home to improve to 8-6 in the Big Sky and 12-13 overall. The Lumberjacks bounced back from a five-set loss to Weber State two nights prior. Redshirt junior Kaylie Jorgenson remains in third in the Big Sky with 3.85 kills per set, and is averaging a Big Sky leading 4.22 kills per set in conference play. Jorgenson has totaled a team-best 16 double-doubles this season. Sophomore Abby Akin is hitting .423 in conference play, third-highest in the league, and is attacking at a .373 clip overall this season. Adding 10 blocks to her season total in two matches last weekend, she ranks second with 1.15 blocks per set in Big Sky action. NAU's upward trajectory on the offensive end can be attributed to sophomore Abby Stomp's progression throughout the season. Her assist average in conference play is up to 9.81 as NAU's conference hitting percentage now sits at .256.

All fans in attendance for Saturday's Senior Day match will receive a free NAU air freshener. Senior Day recognition will take place prior to the match.

Thursday's match at North Dakota will be televised on the Midco Sports Network and will be available to all fans on pluto.tv or the Pluto TV app, Channel 240. As always, NAU's home match can be streamed on Pluto TV Channel 239.

Bengal Blasting: NAU responded from a disappointing loss to Weber State last Thursday in the best possible fashion against Idaho State two days later. The 'Jacks swept the Bengals and did so by having their way offensively. The Lumberjacks tallied only three attack errors in the victory, and recorded a season-best .445 hitting percentage. NAU had not hit .400 in a match in over a year since Sept. 17, 2016 against San Francisco. The three errors were their fewest since Aug. 26, 2017 versus Hampton. Redshirt junior Brittni Dorsey recorded kills on all five of her attacks, posting a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage. Akin hit .688 - the best hitting percentage by a Lumberjack this season with a minimum of 10 attacks - while freshman Heaven Harris and Jorgenson hit .545 and .366 respectively. Akin, Harris and Jorgenson combined for 39 kills on 79 attempts with just a single error.

Dorsey on Call: With redshirt sophomore Victoria Ewalefo missing last week's matches with an injury, Dorsey stepped right back into the starting lineup and did not appear to miss a beat. Dorsey, an All-Big Sky Second Team selection last year, had not started a match since Sept. 9 and had played in just 12 sets over the course of five matches since then. But Dorsey responded by totaling 12 kills on 17 swings against Weber State and Idaho State on Nov. 2 and 4. She did not commit an error and hit .706 in the two matches.

Big Sky Championships: After this week's matches conclude the regular season, the Lumberjacks will be on their way to Sacramento, Calif. next week for the Big Sky Championships. Sacramento State - the regular season champion - will host the three-day tournament to determine the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. NAU will play its first match on Thursday, Nov. 16 against an opponent to be determined based on this week's results.

NAU Quick Hits: NAU has held its opponents to a .192 combined hitting percentage over its last six matches...The Lumberjacks are hitting .269 and averaging 14.17 kills per set during that stretch...NAU is 5-2 on the road in conference play this season...Akin and Harris rank third and fourth respectively in league play with .423 and .398 hitting percentages...Junior Jordan Anderson ranks second in the conference in Big Sky matches with 0.45 aces per set.

About North Dakota: North Dakota, last season's regular season and tournament champions, was picked to repeat in the Big Sky Preseason Poll. but has faltered slightly as of late. After starting conference play 9-2, the Fighting Hawks - with an overall record of 25-7 and a Big Sky mark of 10-4 - have dropped two of their last three including a five-set loss at Idaho last Saturday. Prior to that, North Dakota had swept Eastern Washington. North Dakota leads the league in conference play with a .152 opponent hitting percentage, 2.78 blocks per set and 19.16 digs per set. The Fighting Hawks are also dangerous offensively, averaging 13.80 kills per set on .231 hitting, both of which rank fifth in conference play. Faith Dooley leads the team with 3.08 kills per set and ranks sixth overall in hitting percentage at .361. She also leads the Big Sky with 1.44 blocks per set. Sydney Griffin, last year's Big Sky MVP, ranks fourth in the conference with 10.61 assists per set.

About Southern Utah: Southern Utah snapped a six-match losing streak last Thursday when it upset Idaho State in five sets at home, but then were swept by Weber State on Saturday. The Thunderbirds are 2-12 in Big Sky play and 7-19 overall. Southern Utah sits in the upper half of the conference in sixth in blocking with 2.21 blocks per set in Big Sky matches. The Thunderbirds rank 11th in league play with only a .163 hitting percentage, while opponents are attacking at a .252 clip which is 12th in the Big Sky. Macky Fifita leads the Thunderbirds in both kills and digs with 3.05 kills and 3.25 digs per set. MaCail Evans is hitting a team-best .320, which ranks her 10th in the conference, and is averaging 1.25 blocks per set, which ranks her third. Evans recorded a team-high 11 kills versus NAU earlier this season.