BROOKINGS, S.D. – The Northern Arizona volleyball team quickly turned the page on their earlier loss on Saturday, and made easy work of South Dakota State to close the Hampton Inn Invitational. Getting back to what they do well, NAU evened its season record to 3-3 by virtue of a 25-15, 25-16, 25-19 sweep of the tournament hosts.
"This afternoon, we got our serve going again and our block, but mainly we just had our intensity and carried it through the whole match," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "That was the big difference compared to this morning where Bakersfield played really good defense and their intensity hurt us a little. We got back to being the team in charge and the team who determined how points were going to be scored and that's where we're the most comfortable."
The Lumberjacks, facing the Jackrabbits on a court decked in blue and gold, felt right at home and made sure the Frost Arena fans left knowing who the real 'Jacks were on Saturday. Fueled by redshirt junior
Kaylie Jorgenson's 14 kills and freshman
Heaven Harris' 10 kills – both of whom made the All-Tournament team – NAU got back in the win column before heading home for their home tournament.
Opening the match, the Jackrabbits jumped out to a 5-2 lead, but NAU answered with a 5-0 run to claim the lead. The home team managed to regain the advantage at 11-10, only for the Lumberjacks to gain full control of the opening set. A 7-2 run forced South Dakota State to call its final timeout, but NAU was not to be stopped with redshirt sophomore
Ohiyah Shirley – making her first career start – ending the set with a pair of kills.
The 'Jacks fell behind 3-0 to start the second set only for them to settle in and exert themselves. With three runs of at least three points, NAU methodically pulled away before redshirt sophomore
Victoria Ewalefo and freshman
Heaven Harris emphatically put an end to the set with a block.
Unlike the first two sets, NAU was the team who strung together early points and it led wire-to-wire to complete the sweep. With senior
Brooke Donnelly, who had a team-high 19 digs, at the service line, NAU ripped off the first five points out of the intermission and eight out of the first nine overall. The set was never in real doubt with NAU leading by as much as nine, but South Dakota State managed to put together a late 4-0 run. The Jackrabbits got no closer than 23-19 though as redshirt freshman
Kasie Gilfert and Shirley quickly put an end to any thoughts of a rally.
The fact that Shirley ended the game with a dig kill was fitting, as she had an exceptional first start with nine kills and 17 digs. She hit .346 and did not commit an error, while recording four of her nine kills in the final set.
NAU got back to its winning ways with a strong serve (seven aces) and 6.0 team blocks. The Abbys paced the team in both categories with sophomore
Abby Stomp posting a career-high three aces and sophomore
Abby Akin collecting a season-high tying five blocks while tying her career-high with three solo stuffs.
The Lumberjacks concluded the weekend hitting .296 for the match while keeping the Jackrabbits at bay at just .090.
"Bakersfield showed a lot of maturity with the way they controlled the match (this morning) and we just didn't handle it the way we wanted to," Murphy said. "There are so many great things to learn from that though. The team was so resilient to bounce back so well and they were determined to have a better evening match. I was proud of that effort."
Jorgenson was named to her second All-Tournament team this season in as many weekends by averaging a team-high 3.80 kills per set in addition to 3.60 digs per set. Harris was second on the team with 24 kills, behind Jorgenson, and averaged 2.40 kills per set. She hit a team-high .364 in three matches.
The 'Jacks will open their home schedule next weekend with their own Lumberjack Classic. NAU's home opener will be Friday, Sept. 8 versus Utah State at 12 p.m. followed by a big showdown with Arizona State later that evening at 6:30 p.m. The Lumberjacks will also have a rematch with CSU Bakersfield the following day at 12 p.m.
