FULL 2018 SCHEDULE
TICKETS (AVAILABLE JULY 1)
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (June 14, 2018) – A Friday night home date with Florida, the 2017 NCAA Tournament runner-up, highlights the Northern Arizona volleyball team's 2018 schedule as announced by head coach
Ken Murphy on Thursday.
The 31-match schedule will include yet another exciting non-conference slate over the first four weeks of the fall. Over the course of the first month of the season, the Lumberjacks will face four postseason teams and six teams who finished in the top 150 of the NCAA RPI last season. Nine of the 13 teams NAU will see across the net before taking on their Big Sky Conference foes finished in the top five of their respective conferences last fall.
"There are expectations within our team that our players want to schedule hard; they want to play top-level teams and challenge themselves," Murphy said. "I think we've taken a step forward this year. You look through the schedule and you see a lot of teams who are top 100 in the country. For us to get to our best this year, that's what need."
No challenge will be bigger than welcoming Florida to the Rolle Activity Center on Sept. 7 as part of the annual Lumberjack Classic. The Gators, ranked No. 1 in the NCAA RPI and No. 2 in the final AVCA Coaches Poll, have qualified for 27 consecutive NCAA Tournaments. Last season, Florida claimed a share of the SEC championship and overall were a remarkable 30-2 – its 13th 30-win season during its current streak of NCAA appearances.
Joining the Gators at the Lumberjacks' home tournament on Sept. 7-8 will be CSUN and Southern Illinois. NAU's home opener will be Southern Illinois on the first day of the tournament followed by Florida in the nightcap. The 'Jacks will close with CSUN on Saturday, Sept. 8 in an NAU doubleheader coinciding with the Lumberjack football team's home opener in the Skydome.
NAU will be facing Southern Illinois for the third consecutive year – with the Lumberjacks coming out victorious each of the last two – while the Matadors will be making their first appearance in Flagstaff since claiming the 2013 Fiesta Bowl title.
"We have three quality teams (in the Lumberjack Classic) and they're all going to be good tests for us," Murphy said. "Obviously getting a team like Florida here is exciting for our community. One of the goals for our program isn't to just win more games or championships, but to grow the awareness of our sport in our community. If you're Flagstaff, you'll want to be there that night and we're excited for the opportunity to hopefully have another full gym against a national-level program."
The Lumberjacks will play in two tournaments prior to settling into Rolle starting with the UC Davis Invitational in Davis, Calif. from Aug. 24-26. NAU's season opener will come against Nevada on the first day before facing Utah Valley and Holy Cross on day two. The Lumberjacks will then take the host, UC Davis, in a non-tournament match on the final day to wrap up the first weekend of the season.
The second weekend will take NAU to Indianapolis, Ind. for an exceptional two days at the IUPUI Invitational on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1. There, NAU will square off against three teams who finished in the top 150 last season. The Lumberjacks' first match will be against SIUE, coming off a 23-win season, before closing with Western Michigan and IUPUI. Both SIUE and IUPUI qualified for last year's NIVC Tournament, while Western Michigan was one win away from the NCAA Tournament falling in the finals of the MAC Championship.
After hosting their home tourney, the 'Jacks will travel south to Tempe where they will face in-state rival Arizona State, Texas State and Gonzaga in the Sparky Classic on Sept. 14-15. Aside from the natural intrigue of the in-state match with the Sun Devils, Texas State will pose a significant challenge to NAU having won a match in the NIVC and posting 25 wins a year ago. The Bobcats finished No. 70 in the RPI, and is the second-highest rated team behind Florida on this year's schedule.
With the departure of North Dakota, last year's Big Sky Tournament winner and NCAA automatic qualifier, to the Summit League, NAU will play an 18-match conference schedule – up from 16 the last four years. The Lumberjacks will play each team twice, home and away, with the exception of Idaho (home) and Eastern Washington (away) during the last weekend prior to the conference tournament.
NAU will open up conference play at home versus Idaho State and Weber State on Sept. 20 and 22 respectively. The 'Jacks will host Sacramento State, the 2017 Big Sky regular season champs, in Rolle on Oct. 25 with the final of 12 home matches against Idaho on Nov. 15.
Along with the elimination of the Big Sky's two-division setup, another significant change this fall will be the conference championships being held at a predetermined site. Northern Colorado, who was awarded the bid, will host the league's top eight teams in the 2018 Big Sky Championships from Nov. 21-24 with Thursday, Nov. 22 being an off-day.
Home match times will be announced at a later date. Individual match tickets and the NAU Sports Pass will be available for sale online starting July 1. For more information, visit the NAU Volleyball Tickets page
here.
