MATCH NOTES (PDF)
TICKETS
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 5, 2018) – The Northern Arizona volleyball team's stretch run towards the Big Sky Championship starts Tuesday night when the Lumberjacks host rival Southern Utah at 7 p.m. in the Rolle Activity Center. Tuesday night's match will be the first of three straight at home before NAU wraps up the regular season with one final road contest.
The Lumberjacks, winners of a season-high six straight, will host a hot Thunderbird squad that has won two straight. Both NAU and Southern Utah recently completed a perfect road trip through Montana and Montana State last week. After the 'Jacks defeated the Grizzlies in four sets and swept the Bobcats on their recent road trip, NAU remains one game behind conference-leading Idaho for first place in the Big Sky standings.
While NAU has already secured a spot in the conference tournament, the Thunderbirds are making a late push for one of the final bids after rallying from a two-set deficit to stun the Bobcats in a dramatic five-set victory. Southern Utah then proceeded to sweep Montana and is not just one game behind both Montana and Montana State for the seventh spot in the standings.
"We've been saying all year that Southern Utah is a good volleyball team," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "They've been coming up short, but last weekend they showed they're getting better and it should be a great match on Tuesday. We know that we have a lot season ahead of us and a lot of room to improve, and we're hoping to take another step forward."
Led by freshman
Ryann Davis' 13 kills on .393 hitting, NAU dispatched Southern Utah in Cedar City on Oct. 8 in four sets. The victory was the Lumberjacks' 10th straight over the Thunderbirds.
Junior
Abby Akin is hitting .400 on the season to rank second in the league overall. In conference play, Akin is hitting a Big Sky leading .458 as she continues to torch the league. Redshirt senior
Kaylie Jorgenson ranks ninth in the conference in kills at 3.06 per set and ninth in digs at 4.08 per set. She is the only player ranked in the top 10 of both categories and the only non-defensive specialist currently in the Big Sky's top 10 in digs.
Both senior
Jordan Anderson and junior
Sydney Lema are on the cusp of milestones defensively. Anderson, averaging 4.70 digs per set, needs just seven digs to reach 500 for the season which would make her just the third player in program history to do so. Meanwhile, Lema is just 23 digs shy of reaching 1,000 for her career. Lema would be the 15th player in program history to join the elite 1,000 dig club, but would be just the sixth to do so in three seasons.
Anderson and Lema would become only the second pair of teammates to eclipse 1,000 digs in the same season. Michell Axlund and Tiwi Bond both did so during NAU's 1999 conference championship season.
The first 100 NAU students to Tuesday's match will receive a free steel water bottle.
Tuesday's match will be streamed
online and on the free Pluto TV app on Pluto TV Channel 239.
About Southern Utah:
Record: 5-21, 4-10 Big Sky
2018 Big Sky Standing: Tied for Ninth
All-Time Series: NAU, 23-5
Last Meeting: NAU, 3-1 (Oct. 8, 2018)
