MATCH NOTES (PDF)

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Facing a split home-and-away week to open the conference schedule, the Northern Arizona volleyball team hosts Northern Colorado in their Big Sky opener in the Rolle Activity Center on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Lumberjacks will then hop on a bus to Cedar City, Utah for a Saturday showdown with Southern Utah at 6 p.m. to cap the first weekend of Big Sky play.

"The adversity of non-conference play has prepared us for conference by giving us a great sense of who we are," said head coach Ken Murphy. "Things haven't been easy so far; we've had different lineups but when you get through that on the other side, you realize what your potential is. We want to learn as we go through (conference play) and we have high expectations. We know we have so much room to improve and if we stay focused on that, we'll be ready at the end to compete at the conference tournament."

The mainstay in NAU's lineup thus far this season has been redshirt junior Kaylie Jorgenson, who is the only player to start all 11 matches. Jorgenson ranks eighth in the conference in kills with 3.35 per set and leads the team with seven double-doubles. She also has tallied double-digit kills in all but one match this season. Junior Jordan Anderson returned to the libero position in last weekend's matches at Hawai'i and led the team in digs in both matches. The team's libero last season in 27 matches, Anderson is now averaging 2.60 digs per set for the season. Over the last three matches, Anderson's dig average is 3.60. Meanwhile, freshman Heaven Harris and redshirt sophomore Victoria Ewalefo both rank in the top 10 of the conference in hitting percentage. Harris (.341) and Ewalefo (.323) rank fifth and seveth respectively.

Thursday's match versus Northern Colorado is being deemed the "Battle of the North" with all fans encouraged to wear white. The first 300 students will receive the coveted "I'm a Lumberjack" shirt. All fans will receive free stickers as well.

All conference matches moving forward can be streamed on pluto.tv or the Pluto TV app. Thursday's match will be available on Channel 239, in addition to being televised on NAU-TV locally in Flagstaff, while Saturday's match at Southern Utah will be available on Pluto TV Channel 236.

Every Match They're Shufflin': Searching for the right combination, and largely due to injuries, the starting lineup has been on shuffle for the Lumberjacks this season. In 11 matches, NAU has used eight different starting lineups. Only twice this season has NAU used the same starting lineup in back-to-back matches. A total of seven different players started their first career matches this season through the first 11 matches. Last Saturday at Hawai'i, redshirt freshmen Krystina Brice and Kasie Gilfert were the latest to have their name introduced prior to a match for the first time. In addition, Jorgenson, Harris and sophomore Abby Stomp all started the season opener versus Southern Illinois on Aug. 25. Senior Dani Westfall and redshirt sophomore Ohiyah Shirley earned their first starts on Sept. 2 at South Dakota State. Jorgenson is the only player to start all 11 matches this season and a total of 12 players - not including senior Brooke Donnelly who has appeared at libero in nine matches - have started at least once.

Recipe for Success: The Lumberjacks pride themselves on service pressure and their blocking, which then leads to their efficient offensive systems so it should be no surprise that those three elements have been key to their success early in the season. When NAU has held the advantage in service aces, it has a 4-1 record. The Lumberjacks have also lost just one match (3-1) when they have outblocked their opposition. When NAU has outhit its opposition, the 'Jacks are 3-0. The win-loss splits are drastic with the Lumberjacks hitting .244 and averaging 2.27 aces and 1.93 blocks per set in wins while hitting only .162 with 0.80 aces and 1.64 blocks per set in losses.

Big Sky Openers: NAU is 4-0 in conference openers in Ken Murphy's tenure, including a 3-1 win at Northern Colorado last season. Taking it one step further, the Lumberjacks have won their last seven home conference openers.

NAU Quick Hits: Ken Murphy is just four wins shy of 100 at NAU...Donnelly ranks third in the Big Sky with 4.35 digs per set...Sophomore Abby Akin ranks fourth in the conference with 0.43 aces per set...Stomp ranks 10th with 7.88 assists per set...After leading the conference in hitting the last three years, NAU currently ranks sixth at .193.

About Northern Colorado: Northern Colorado received two first-place votes in the preseason Big Sky poll and were voted second behind only North Dakota. The Bears won all three of their matches at their home Hampton Inn & Suites Northern Colorado Classic last weekend. The Bears swept Air Force and Arkansas-Pine Bluff in addition to pulling out a five-set victory over South Dakota and are now 7-6 overall heading into conference. Kim Weissmann leads a balanced Bears' attack with 2.81 kills per set. A total of five players have recorded at least 69 kills this season, including Kortney Lockey who was named the tournament MVP last weekend and overall is averaging 2.71 kills per set. Northern Colorado ranks fourth in the conference in both hitting percentage (.212) and kills per set (12.39) and second in opponent hitting percentage (.167).

About Southern Utah: Southern Utah finished 12th in the Big Sky preseason poll. The Thunderbirds played just a single match last week, falling to Utah State on the road in four sets last Friday. Holding a 5-7 overall record, Southern Utah has won four of its last seven matches after starting the season 1-4. Macky Fifita paces the Thunderbirds with 3.58 kills per set - good for third in the Big Sky. Fifita also leads the team in total digs with 157 and is averaging 3.14 per set. MaCail Evans ranks fifth in the conference with a team-high 1.41 blocks per set. Southern Utah ranks just eighth in the conference in hitting percentage, but opponents are hitting just .200 against the Thunderbirds, which is the conference's fourth-lowest clip.