Note: Fans are invited to join the Lumberjacks for their free public scrimmage on Saturday, Aug. 19 at 5 p.m. in the Rolle Activity Center.
 
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Northern Arizona volleyball team is talented. There is no doubt about that. Armed with more size, power and athleticism than in years past, the Lumberjacks have the physical tools to return to the top of the Big Sky Conference in 2017.
 
What they lack though is match experience. With a roster comprised of 11 freshmen and sophomores, the collective court time is not quite up to par with their talent level. That will change in a hurry though, but the fall schedule lined up by head coach Ken Murphy will be a series of immense challenges, which be to the team's benefit come November.
 
"We were aggressive with our schedule early, but we felt that with this group – even with our inexperience – we wanted those challenges," Murphy said. "However those results go, we're going to learn from them and raise our expectations as the season goes on. When you look at our team, you get the sense that we're going to be a lot better in November than we are in August, but we're starting at a really high level."
 
The season starts next Friday, Aug. 25 at the ultra-competitive Miami Best Western Sycamore Inn Invitational. At its opening tourney, NAU will face Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky and Miami – all of whom won at least 21 matches last season and finished in the top 75 of the NCAA RPI.
 
When NAU opens the season in Oxford, Ohio, it will have just two players (redshirt junior Brittni Dorsey and junior Jordan Anderson) who have played over 200 sets in a Lumberjack uniform. Even the team's seniors, Brooke Donnelly and Dani Westfall, are relatively inexperienced with Donnelly being a second-year Lumberjack and Westfall transferring into the program having played appeared in just 64 sets over three years at Wyoming.
 
The Big Sky coaches seem to agree with the notion that NAU is entering a rebuilding year of sorts with the Lumberjacks picked fourth in the preseason poll despite reaching the tournament championship match for the second consecutive year last fall.
 
Still, by the time the Lumberjacks approach the Big Sky Championships four months from now, they will have been tested by a schedule featuring four 2016 NCAA Tournament teams and 11 total teams in the NCAA RPI top 150. The inexperienced squad entering the first week of the season will be a different one come November, and with their talent-base, that makes for an exciting combination.
 
"What you sense with this group is that they do so many good things, and it's almost like they don't understand how many good things they can do right now," Murphy said. "As they get into match situations and prove to themselves, I see them gaining confidence and they'll have a greater understanding of how to use their skills to their advantage."
 
OUTSIDE HITTERS
 
Gone is All-Big Sky First Team selection Lauren Jacobsen, who finished her career 11th all-time in kills, so the Lumberjacks will be looking for a new go-to hitter with only three true options. Redshirt junior Kaylie Jorgenson, sophomore Sydney Lema and redshirt sophomore Ohiyah Shirley comprise the Lumberjacks' outside hitters, as NAU heads into the season thin at the left pin.
 
"In this group, there is the potential to replace the really great outside hitters we've had recently," Murphy said. "The main thing is we're a little inexperienced, and we don't have a senior to rely on like the past couple of years. There's no doubt that there's some great competition and skill at that spot."
 
Despite entering her fourth year in the program, including her redshirt year, Jorgenson has played in just 70 career sets. But in her first extensive run last season, Jorgenson did average 2.39 kills per set – second-best on the team. In the final 14 matches of the season, she recorded double-digit performances in seven of them and averaged 2.70 kills. She will not only be looked to for production this season, but leadership as one of the team's six upperclassmen.
 
Lema was an impact player in her first season, starting 31 of 32 matches and playing in all but one set. Although she averaged 1.36 kills per set overall, Lema averaged 2.06 kills through the first 18 matches before shifting into the back row rotation where her exceptional skills showed. One of the team's best passers, Lema ranked third on the team with 343 digs and 2.93 digs per set and tallied 21 double-digit matches.
 
Making her debut last season as well following a redshirt year was Shirley, who appeared in three matches. Specifically a serving specialist in six sets last season, Shirley recorded three aces, but is ready to step in this season when her number is called.
 
OPPOSITE HITTERS
 
Offsetting the team's lack of depth on the left side, NAU has a trio of right side hitters it plans to rely on heavily this season.
 
As is the case at just about every spot on the court, the Lumberjacks are loaded in talent on the right side, but extremely low on experience as graduated senior Addy Lofstedt has held the position for each of the last two seasons. Still, Murphy has plans to use his various opposite hitters at a greater rate than seasons past, simply because of what they have already shown through fall camp.
 
"It's an inexperienced, but really talented group," Murphy said. "We see some things early on that give us confidence that (the right side) is going to be a strong area of the court for us. All three of them are contributing at a high level right now, and we're really fortunate to have quality depth so we've centered our offense around them. We've maybe added more than when we had Addy or Sydney (Kemper) there the last few years."
 
With all of the talent at opposite hitter, none of the Lumberjacks' three players have actually appeared in a match as of yet at the position. The lone 'Jack with any collegiate experience, redshirt junior Emma Grimsrud, has appeared in just 17 sets in two years – all of which have come at middle blocker. Last season, Grimsrud totaled one kill against Alabama A&M in her only match.
 
Joining Grimsrud are redshirt freshman Kasie Gilfert and true freshman Heaven Harris, both of whom are also showing tremendous promise. Gilfert, a middle blocker last season, redshirted the 2016 season.
 
SETTERS
 
For the first time in four years, the Lumberjacks will have a new setter running the show with the loss of Jensen Barton, who left with the second-most assists in program history. But Murphy believes his offense, who has had led the Big Sky Conference in hitting percentage in each of the last three seasons, is in good hands.
 
"Our team has transitioned really well and adapted to Dani (Westfall) and Abby (Stomp) really fast," Murphy said. "It's been a relatively easy transition considering how much Jensen brought to our program the last four years. Both of them do a really good job of leading the team and locating sets at different spots on the court. We're really confident in their abilities and the question mark, like at many of the other positions, is a lack of experience in a real game environment."
 
Westfall will play her final collegiate season back in her home state following three years at Wyoming. At Wyoming, Westfall earned four starts in 32 career matches and had a three-year average of 3.62 assists and 0.77 digs per set. Her best season came as a true freshman, when she tallied 110 assists, but she also missed most of her sophomore campaign with an injury.
 
Stomp returns for her second season after appearing in just two sets as a freshman. In her first career match against Alabama A&M, she totaled 15 assists, two blocks, two digs and an ace and overall averaged 5.33 assists per set.
 
MIDDLE BLOCKERS
 
In the middle, there is so such issue of inexperience as the Lumberjacks return a pair of all-conference performers in Dorsey and sophomore Abby Akin. Both players received All-Big Sky Second Team recognition last season, while Akin was also voted the Big Sky's Outstanding Freshman.
 
The pair will not only give the offense another pair of arms to their stable of hitters, but they will also aid a blocking attack that ranked third in the conference in 2016. Both Dorsey and Akin ranked among the Big Sky's top 10 in blocks per set and helped NAU lead the conference in opponent hitting percentage for the third straight season.
 
Dorsey not only contributed offensively (1.03 kills per set) and defensively (1.21 blocks per set), but she set a new standard at the service line. Her 64 aces last season broke the school record for aces in a season and were fourth-most nationally.
 
Akin also had a record-setting season, compiling a .367 hitting percentage – tops in program history – as a freshman nonetheless. A two-time Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week, Akin averaged 1.10 blocks per set to go along with 1.51 kills per set.
 
While the all-conference duo will get the early pub, NAU also has a third middle blocker in the mix in redshirt sophomore Victoria Ewalefo. In limited court time last season – Ewalefo made three starts and appeared in six total matches – she showcased her talents by averaging 1.45 kills on a .400 hitting percentage and recording five blocks.
 
"There is doubt that our middles are our greatest depth and experience," Murphy said. "All three of the middles we have are capable of impacting us at a really high level. That's a luxury and a tough decision for us, but at the same time I'm sure all three will play a big role. They took advantage of the spring to improve their offense and their blocking, and I feel really confident about how we're going to block the ball this season based on this position."
 
Gilfert and Grimsrud could also shift back into the middle if needed.
 
DEFENSIVE SPECIALISTS
 
From a pure numbers standpoint, the back row is where the depth of the team lies as Murphy has six defensive specialists vying for spots in the rotation.
 
"We definitely have the most depth at this position since I've been at NAU," Murphy said. "Every player is capable of contributing. Jordan (Anderson) has a little bit of an edge because she's played the most matches here, and the others are a little less experienced, but they are all great defenders who have the ability to impact matches. We feel that this late in camp, we have many options who might be the next player on the court depending on the strength that we're looking for."
 
The group is led by Anderson, who led the team with 3.62 digs per set in 2016 while serving as the Lumberjacks' libero in 27 matches. Also returning is Donnelly, who is the only returning player to have started all 32 matches a year ago. Donnelly, also the only returner to have played in all 118 sets, averaged 2.20 digs per set as NAU's primary defensive specialist in her first season in Flagstaff.
 
Redshirt freshman Emiley Larson returns seasoned after sitting last year out, while a trio of newcomers in Krystina Brice, Saylor Frew and Kimber Kemp also join the fold. Brice transferred into the Lumberjack program this fall after a redshirt year at Arizona, while Frew and Kemp are true freshmen.