GREELEY, Colo. (November 22, 2018) – In their first round match, the Northern Arizona volleyball team looked every bit like the No. 1 seed in a 25-21, 25-13, 25-16 sweep of No. 8 seed Montana State on Thursday. The Lumberjacks (24-8 overall) notched their third straight three-set sweep for the first time in over two years, and picked up their 11th consecutive win overall to advance to Friday's Big Sky semifinal versus Idaho State.
"Our setters Aubrea (Bandfield) and Abby (Stomp) did such an outstanding job of running our tempos and putting our hitters in really good positions to take good swings," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "Across the board, everyone responded to that."
With freshman
Aubrea Bandfield returning to the lineup, the Lumberjacks reverted back to their 6-2 offensive system and attacked the Bobcats from every angle. Junior
Abby Stomp (22 assists) and Bandfield (20) distributed NAU's offense to a season-best .398 hitting percentage.
Sophomore
Heaven Harris was the lead cog in NAU's attack, terminating 13 kills on .522 hitting. Junior
Abby Akin contributed 11 kills on .556 hitting and in total, five of NAU's six hitters hit .300 or better.
The Bobcats played the Lumberjacks close in the first set and had a chance to steal the opening game with the teams' tied at 20-20. However, a 5-1 NAU run propelled the Lumberjacks to a first set win with four Montana State attack errors during the final stretch. Akin and junior
Sydney Lema combined for two blocks, among four total first set runs, in the game-clinching run.
NAU struggled to slow down Montana State initially, but the Bobcats only managed 14 kills in the final two sets after posting 12 in the first set alone.
"Early in the match, we were a little nervous and out of sorts defensively, but it was so good to see us grind out points with our side out," Murphy said. "Our offense carried us as our defense caught up."
Akin led the team with three blocks and senior
Jordan Anderson tallied 20 of NAU's 46 digs to pace the Lumberjacks' defensive effort. Montana State hit .071 in the match and were significantly outpaced in the kills column, 50-26. The 50 kills marked a new three-set high by the 'Jacks this season.
Harris could not be contained in the second set, recording seven kills on just nine attempts in a dominating NAU performance to take a 2-0 match lead. NAU pulled away early with a 6-1 run, with five kills from Harris, to take a 13-6 advantage. Redshirt senior
Brittni Dorsey capped the set with the Lumberjacks' 20th kill of the stanza as the 'Jacks hit .462 in the second game.
After Montana State scored the first point of the final set, NAU led the rest of the way. The set remained close with the Lumberjacks holding an 11-10 advantage, but the 'Jacks went on a 4-1 run to give themselves a cushion. Consecutive kills by Akin put NAU at 20-13, and the Lumberjacks wrapped up the opening round match on four straight Bobcat errors.
Redshirt senior
Kaylie Jorgenson and freshman
Ryann Davis contributed to the Lumberjacks' offensive display with eight kills each. Lema chipped in six kills on 10 swings.
NAU will face Idaho State in the first of two semifinal matches on Friday at 4:30 p.m. The fifth-seeded Bengals dispatched fourth-seeded Sacramento State in four sets in the first round.
The two teams split the season series with each team posting a victory on the road. Idaho State defeated NAU in five sets on Sept. 20 before NAU returned the favor with a four-set win a month later.
Friday's game will be televised on Eleven Sports and will be streamed on
Pluto TV and
watchbigsky.com.
