TEMPE, Ariz. (September 15, 2018) – Facing their first 2-0 deficit of the season, the Northern Arizona volleyball team extended their Saturday morning match versus Texas State by one, but ultimately fell 25-17, 25-21, 16-25, 25-17. The loss was the Lumberjacks' third straight as they fell to 7-5 overall.
NAU will be challenged with a quick turnaround when it faces Gonzaga to wrap up the Sparky Classic this afternoon at 2:45 p.m.
With the exception of the third set, the 'Jacks struggled to slow down the Bobcats with NAU surrendering a .306 opponent attack clip. NAU hit .203 with sophomore
Heaven Harris leading the way with nine kills. Redshirt senior
Kaylie Jorgenson added eight kills and posted 12 digs.
"(The third set) was how long it took us to get Texas State under control defensively," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "Really, when we were locked in defensively we had a lot of success. When we weren't, their athleticism took over the match. When we were blocking well, it was a completely different match, but unfortunately we weren't able to sustain that."
NAU extended the match into a fourth set by rolling through the third. Behind a dominant serve (three aces) and an effective attack (.375 hitting percentage), the Lumberjacks played their best set of the morning after dropping the first two games.
Junior
Sydney Lema spurred a set-changing 6-0 surge by serving a pair of aces that propelled NAU to a 15-10 lead. The Lumberjacks' advantage would only grow as it reached double-digits at 22-12 when freshman
Aubrea Bandfield served another five-point spurt.
The Lumberjacks' momentum was short-lived though as the Bobcat used a devastating 9-0 run early in the fourth set that flipped the scoreboard squarely in Texas State's favor. After a Harris kill, the Bobcats' run put the Lumberjacks behind, 14-6, which wound up being the final margin in the match-ending set. NAU would get as close as 21-17 on the heels of four Texas State errors, but the Bobcats answered with the next four points to seal up the win.
Despite the early morning start, Texas State came out swinging to the tune of a .538 hitting percentage to take the opening set. NAU fell behind early, 3-1, but took a 7-6 lead with an ace by senior
Jordan Anderson and a pair of kills from Lema and Harris. But an ensuing 10-4 Bobcat run was the Lumberjacks' demise and NAU was unable to recover hitting .160 in the first set.
Playing catch-up for the majority of the second set, the Lumberjacks were able to cut their six-point deficit in half with junior
Abby Akin contributing a kill and an ace to bring NAU within 21-18. After Texas State answered with three points, NAU strung together a late rally by holding off three set points, the last coming on a Jorgenson solo block which forced a Texas State timeout. However, the Bobcats clinched the set with a kill on the next point.
Although the teams' hitting percentages were widely in favor of Texas State, NAU did hold advantages in service aces (9-8) and blocks (8.0-2.0). Akin led the Lumberjacks in both categories with four aces and four blocks.
