BOZEMAN, Mont. (November 3, 2018) – The Northern Arizona volleyball team had an uncharacteristic night offensively, but the Lumberjacks' defensive play at the net was enough to help NAU pick up a 25-21, 25-23, 25-18 sweep over Montana State on Saturday. NAU recorded its best three-set block total (11.0) of the season to extend its winning streak to six.
With Montana State putting up a significant block as well, NAU only managed to hit .214 for the evening. However, junior
Abby Akin recorded a match-high six blocks and both redshirt senior
Brittni Dorsey and freshman
Ryann Davis tallied five to aid the Lumberjacks' defensive cause. The Bobcats wound up hitting only .079 and committed 27 attack errors.
"We were able to gain a lot confidence with our ability to score points with our block and our defensive intensity," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "We've been talking about the most important thing being our resilience in a match regardless of what is happening and our team is really responding to that right now. The evidence was our ability to be successful in a match that was as wild as it was tonight."
In a match that NAU was just 13 points better than Montana State, the Lumberjacks committed exactly 13 fewer attack errors (14) than the home team. As a result of the win, plus Sacramento State's loss to Idaho, NAU is in sole possession of second place in the Big Sky standings at 11-3 in league play. The Lumberjacks, 19-8 overall, remain one game back of Idaho.
The Lumberjacks' mettle was at its greatest during a topsy-turvy second set in which the Bobcats led 15-5. Montana State was in full control following an 8-0 run and had NAU on its heels with the Lumberjacks' second set kill-to-error ratio at 1-to-7 at that point.
But NAU settled in after its second and final timeout of the game, scoring the next five points to immediately cut the deficit in half. The 'Jacks methodically chopped away until Akin and sophomore
Heaven Harris stuffed a Bobcat attack to tie the score at 19-19. As if the rollercoaster game was not enough, Montana State answered with four straight. Down 23-19, NAU dug in once more and finished with a furious 6-0 run, winning the wild set on a successful joust at the net by junior
Sydney Lema.
"We started the set playing poorly and Montana State played great; everything was going their way for a bit," Murphy said. "I felt our team relaxed and felt like we could chip away. You could see our composure and it's probably the biggest comeback I've been a part of honestly. That is a total credit to our team's toughness."
Outside of a .048 second set attack percentage – NAU's lowest since the fifth set at Northern Colorado three weeks ago – the Lumberjacks actually sliced up the Bobcat defense. NAU hit .323 in the first set and .308 in the third.
The 'Jacks battled back from an early four-point first set deficit to come out on top in the first set, which featured eight ties and four lead changes. The key stretch came with NAU trailing 17-15, where the Lumberjacks retook the lead for good with a 4-0 run. Davis and Dorsey combined for a pair of blocks during the critical run. Dorsey in all tallied four of her five blocks in the opening set.
With momentum squarely on their side after the second set comeback, the Lumberjacks completed the sweep although the Bobcats refused to go away quietly. Montana State overcame a 10-5 deficit to tie the score at 14-14. However, NAU scored 10 of the next 12 points to reach match point. Fittingly, Lema and Akin rejected Montana State on NAU's third match point for NAU's 11th block, surpassing its previous best three-set total of 10.0 against Gonzaga on Sept. 15.
NAU had five hitters finish with seven or more kills led by eight each from redshirt senior
Kaylie Jorgenson and Lema.
Senior
Jordan Anderson became just the third player in program history to register 1,300 career digs in the first set, and finished with a match-high 21. The Lumberjacks outdug the Bobcats, 62-57.
NAU turns around quickly to host Southern Utah on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Rolle Activity Center. The Lumberjacks will conclude the regular season with three of their last four matches at home.
