DAVIS, Calif. (August 24, 2018) – The Northern Arizona volleyball team hit a blistering .441 in the opening set, but a fast start could not ultimately prevent a season-opening defeat at the hands of Nevada Friday afternoon. The Wolf Pack claimed a 14-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-21 victory to deny the Lumberjacks a win on the first day of the Aggie Invitational.
"We were relaxed and played our style (in the first set)," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "When we're connecting with each other, we're really tough. During the later parts of the match we weren't able to sustain that. There are great things to learn from that and our team will be motivated to play a little more like we did in the first set and finish matches that way."
Redshirt senior
Kaylie Jorgenson paced the 'Jacks from the start, recording six of her team-best 15 kills in the first set victory. Jorgenson finished the match with a double-double, posting 22 digs to go with her 15 kills.
NAU hit .234 for the match, significantly better than Nevada's mark of .182, and also held a 10.0-7.0 advantage in blocks. Junior
Abby Akin and sophomore
Heaven Harris each tallied six blocks to tie for team-high honors.
The Lumberjacks broke open a tight first set with a 6-0 run that pushed their advantage to 14-6. During the run, NAU got a kill from five different hitters in addition to a block. A four-point spurt, including a pair of aces by Akin, doubled up the Wolf Pack at 20-10 en route to an easy first set win.
The 'Jacks used their familiar recipe of service pressure (four aces) and defense (.031 opponent hitting percentage) to take the early lead. However, Nevada tied up the match by squeaking out a narrow second set. After the Wolf Pack opened up a four-point advantage at 12-8, the Lumberjacks managed to tie it at 13-13. Jorgenson's kill brought the score even for the 11th time in the set at 21-21, only for Nevada to score four of the final five points.
Despite hitting .257 in the third set, NAU could not slow down Nevada's attack at a .382 clip and found itself needing a win in the fourth to force a decisive fifth. The third was all Wolf Pack following a 7-1 run that staked them a 9-3 lead they were never in real jeopardy of losing.
The fourth set was full of runs by both teams with the final one clinching the victory for Nevada. With senior
Jordan Anderson at the service line, the 'Jacks ripped off five consecutive points to take an 11-8 advantage. An ensuing 6-1 Nevada run had NAU playing catch-up at 16-13 before NAU's defensive play at the net brought the Lumberjacks back.
Harris and redshirt senior
Brittni Dorsey teamed for a pair of blocks to force a Nevada timeout at 19-18, and NAU managed to take a short-lived lead at 21-20 following a solo block from junior
Sydney Lema and another Nevada attack error. But a Wolf Pack timeout proved to be the remedy as the Lumberjacks were victim to the final five points of the match.
Akin had a solid all-around match, finishing with nine kills on .304 hitting along with three aces and her six stuffs. Harris had eight kills, while Lema and freshman
Ryann Davis each posted six.
Junior
Abby Stomp and freshman
Aubrea Bandfield split the setting duties with Stomp registering 28 assists and Bandfield totaling 16 in her collegiate debut. Anderson led the way with 23 digs.
The Lumberjacks will play a doubleheader on Saturday starting with Utah Valley at 10 a.m. NAU will then face Holy Cross at 5 p.m. to close its second day at the UC Davis hosted tournament.
