FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 10, 2018) – A month ago in Greeley, Northern Colorado stormed the Northern Arizona volleyball team in a decisive fifth set. Saturday night, the Lumberjacks made sure to return the favor. Behind 19 kills each from redshirt senior
Kaylie Jorgenson and sophomore
Heaven Harris, and a season-high 53 assists by junior
Abby Stomp, the Lumberjacks bested the Bears, 25-22, 21-25, 25-19, 22-25, 15-6, in the Rolle Activity Center.
"With the changes in our lineup, I was so impressed with our resilience," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "There were a lot of things that we didn't feel like going our way, but they kept believing. We never got into the defense we wanted, but I felt like we maintained our intensity and desire."
NAU ran its win streak to eight and now owns the second-longest conference win streak in program history. The Lumberjacks are now 21-8 overall and 13-3 in league play.
Forced to play a 5-1 offensive system for the first time all season, Stomp responded by recording her third-highest assist total of her career in addition to picking up her sixth double-double with 11 digs. She fed Jorgenson and Harris all night, with the Lumberjack dynamic duo each answering the call. Harris' 19 kills tied a career-high and the opposite hitter attacked at a .341 clip.
The change also took freshman
Ryann Davis out of her usual right side position, but she also flourished with six kills on .312 hitting out of the back row. Davis also set a season-best with eight digs and tallied her first three aces of her collegiate career.
"I'm so proud of Heaven and Kaylie for carrying such a huge offensive load tonight," Murphy said. "Their ability to take quality swings for five sets was so impressive. Ryann did some things that we haven't even practiced and she did them like a veteran. That just shows how far along she is as a player."
The system changes did not hamper the Lumberjacks much with the home team attacking at a .274 percentage. The Bears also had an efficient night hitting .235 and actually outkilled the 'Jacks, 72-62. Northern Colorado also held a sizeable dig advantage (87-69), but NAU offset both with nine aces and 11.0 team blocks. Senior
Jordan Anderson totaled a season-best four aces at the line and both Harris and redshirt senior
Brittni Dorsey tallied a team-high six stuffs.
In their five-set win over NAU on Oct. 13, Northern Colorado stunned NAU by taking a 12-1 fifth set lead. On Saturday, NAU nearly pulled the same feat as an 11-2 advantage crushed Northern Colorado. Consecutive kills by junior
Sydney Lema capped an opening 4-0 run to the final game before Davis served a 6-0 NAU run to get to 11-2.
Davis, Harris and Lema combined for all 10 of NAU's kills in the final set as the 'Jacks closed the match hitting .385. Lema's four fifth set kills allowed her to post her second double-double with 10 kills and 14 digs on a season-best .364 hitting.
"Northern Colorado is a really good team and we match up well with them, so it's going to be an aggressive match no matter what," Stomp said. "The fact that we went to five with them the last time, we knew it was going to be a long game. We played every point the same and stayed strong from start to finish."
The Lumberjacks took two of the first three sets, but the Bears forced a winner-take-all situation by claiming the fourth. NAU started shaky, committing five attack errors right off the bat during a 6-0 Northern Colorado run to open the match.
Jorgenson settled the 'Jacks with a kill and NAU eventually fought back to a 7-7 tie. The teams would be tied on seven more occasions, the last coming at 20-20, before another Jorgenson kill followed by a Lumberjack block provided cushion. Junior
Abby Akin and Harris combined for the Lumberjacks' fourth block of the first set to close the opening game.
NAU started the second set on a 6-1 run, only for Northern Colorado to take a 14-12 advantage. After NAU rallied to tie it at 17-17 courtesy of four straight points, Northern Colorado used a 5-1 run to seize control and eventually even the match.
Jorgenson, who finished with her 19th double-double performance with 20 digs to go along with her 19 kills, totaled eight of her kills in a dominant fourth set by the 'Jacks. Four came during a five-point NAU surge that gave the 'Jacks a 13-9 lead, which would only grow to 23-14. However, the Bears did not go quietly forcing a Lumberjack timeout after five straight points to climb within 23-19. But Jorgenson quickly squashed the Bears with two kills out of the timeout to end the third set.
The Bears did not stay down for long though, finishing the fourth game with five of the last seven points to extend the match, only for the Lumberjacks to put them away quickly in the final set.
NAU's win sets up a match with regular season conference championship implications next Thursday versus Idaho. The Vandals have won 12 consecutive matches, and at 14-2 in conference are one game ahead of the 'Jacks.
NAU and Idaho square off on Senior Night for Jorgenson, Dorsey and Anderson next Thursday in the Rolle Activity Center at 7 p.m.
