FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (September 22, 2018) – Aiming for a split of the opening weekend of conference play, the Northern Arizona volleyball team turned to their heavy hitters. Behind 19 kills from redshirt senior
Kaylie Jorgenson and 15 kills from sophomore
Heaven Harris, the Lumberjacks (9-6, 1-1 Big Sky) turned away Weber State, 25-16, 25-23, 23-25, 25-17, on Saturday in the Rolle Activity Center.
"This team is full of competitors and they're not satisfied with results that are below their capabilities," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "We challenged Heaven and Kaylie to be more offensive, and they both responded so well. It was just the big plays, but it was the little plays they made to generate points. I was proud of their response after Thursday."
With the third set being the exception, the Lumberjacks rode the arms of Jorgenson and Harris, along with freshman
Ryann Davis who tallied 11 kills, to an effective offensive performance. NAU hit .234 for the match, and at least .276 in all three of its winning sets. Jorgenson (.341), Davis (.320) and Harris (.281) all had efficient days to help NAU rebound from a five-set loss to Idaho State Thursday night.
Junior
Abby Stomp (25) and freshman
Aubrea Bandfield (21) both totaled 20-plus assists in engineering the Lumberjack offense.
"We need to realize that we can't get down on ourselves," Harris said. "We need to expect more out of ourselves because we are a great team. We were more organized today and it all came together. We didn't get frazzled, even after we lost the third set."
The Lumberjacks were in control of the first set from the moment Jorgenson killed the match's opening point. NAU led wire-to-wire and claimed the first game with the Lumberjacks' right side combo of Harris and Davis combining for nine kills. Sophomore
Olivia Turner served a seven-point run that gave the 'Jacks a commanding 17-6 lead, that proved to be more than enough.
Despite another strong 6-0 service run by Turner in the second set that broke an 8-8 tie, and the 'Jacks holding a sizeable lead as late as 18-10, the Wildcats did not go away quietly. Weber State managed to snag a 23-22 lead, but Jorgenson tied the score with her seventh kill of the set. With sideout in hand, Davis converted on the set's final two kills to deny Weber State's attempt at evening the match.
Weber State was able to avoid the sweep though, using its physicality to slow down NAU's attack. The Wildcats totaled six of their 11 blocks in the third set, keeping the Lumberjacks down to a .093 attack clip. Both teams held three-point leads in a back-and-forth set, and NAU trailed 23-20 late. A kill by junior
Abby Akin and two Weber State errors brought the score to 23-23, but the Lumberjacks' rally stopped there with the Wildcats winning the next two points.
The Wildcats' tenacity did not waver in the fourth set, even after the Lumberjacks raced out to an 11-3 lead. Weber State battled back to close within 13-11, forcing an NAU timeout. Akin responded out of the timeout with a kill, and followed with a tandem block with Jorgenson to shift the tide back in NAU's favor. After an NAU service error, Akin got the point back with another kill to ignite a 5-0 run that pushed NAU's lead out to 20-12. The Lumberjacks' lead did not slip below six the rest of the way with Harris slamming match point to the center of the court.
"When we had a couple of flat spots, our team recognized it fast," Murphy said. "We're showing some maturity where we can come out of the spots a little quicker. We had a pretty poor offensive set in the third, but we made a couple of adjustments and executed. That is a sign that we're growing and getting better."
The Lumberjacks reaped the benefits of the return of Akin to the lineup after a one-match absence with Akin recording seven kills and three blocks. Jorgenson (four) and redshirt senior
Brittni Dorsey (three) contributed to a 7.0 team block effort.
Turner recorded a career-high 18 digs to lead the Lumberjacks with senior
Jordan Anderson adding 15 and Jorgenson totaling 13. Defensively, NAU kept Weber State in check with the Wildcats only managing a .119 hitting percentage for the match.
The Lumberjacks are out on the road next week starting with Portland State on Thursday. NAU will travel to Sacramento State next Saturday. Both matches will start at 7 p.m.
