FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (September 8, 2018) – The Northern Arizona volleyball team exhausted their remaining fuel following their Friday night upset of No. 8 Florida, but ultimately ran out of gas in their Lumberjack Classic finale. The Lumberjacks were not quite able to close out a second consecutive five-set thriller, falling to CSUN, 25-19, 22-25, 22-25, 25-20, 16-14 and finishing the tournament with a 2-1 record.
NAU (7-3 overall), CSUN and Florida all finished the Lumberjack Classic with identical 2-1 marks with Southern Illinois dropping all three of its matches. Redshirt senior
Kaylie Jorgenson and junior
Abby Akin were NAU's representatives on the All-Tournament Team.
"Our effort was great and we worked, but we weren't hitting the shots that we normally do," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "That made it a struggle for us. We're going to take away (from this weekend) that our best stuff is really good and that we have a tough group. We were exhausted today, and our intent was great. Typically if you have great intent and you work hard, you usually get the result and today was the rare exception."
In defeat, senior
Jordan Anderson enjoyed a milestone performance as she became the 14th player in program history to join the 1,000 dig club in the third set. Anderson totaled a team-high 19 digs on Saturday and her career total currently sits at 1,010. She was the first entry into the club since Lauren Jacobsen achieved the feat two seasons ago.
NAU's offense tailed off as the match prolonged; after hitting .346 in the opening set the Lumberjacks finished at .181. Similarly, CSUN's offense dipped significantly from a .484 set one clip to .184 for the match in what wound up being a five-set slugfest to close NAU's home tournament.
The Lumberjacks led 2-1 in the match, but dropped the fourth set to head into their fourth five-set match of the season. Behind the service of junior
Sydney Lema and a stout block, NAU scored the first seven points of the fifth set only for CSUN to tie it at 11-11. After ties at 12-12 and 13-13, the Lumberjacks got to match point first with a kill from freshman
Ryann Davis. However, not only did the Matadors stave off match point, but they would score the final three to halt NAU's three-match win streak.
The final stats might not indicate it, but the match got off to a rapid start with both teams attacking at a high clip in the first set. A pivotal 4-0 CSUN run proved critical as it pushed the Matador lead to 19-14, a deficit that NAU was unable to slice into.
The 'Jacks responded by winning the next two sets though, starting with a second set that almost slipped away. NAU held leads of 4-0 and 16-10, only to see CSUN storm back to take a 22-21 advantage. With their backs against the wall, the Lumberjacks buckled down with Jorgenson contributing two kills during a 4-0 set-ending run. Davis added a kill and block as well, helping NAU even the match.
NAU again closed the third set strong behind Lema and sophomore
Heaven Harris, who combined for kills for the Lumberjacks' final five points. The 'Jacks fought back from an early five-point deficit and broke a 20-20 stalemate with a 5-2 run. Harris started the set-clinching run with a kill and Lema pushed NAU within a set of a perfect weekend with a kill on NAU's first set point.
Unfortunately, the Lumberjacks were unable to pick up the final set win they needed with the Matadors using a devastating 8-1 run midway through the fourth to pull away from the 'Jacks prior to their fifth set come-from-behind effort.
The 'Jacks had four players in double-digit kills for the first time since Sept. 21 of last year led by Akin's 13 on .385 hitting. Jorgenson and Harris posted a dozen each, while Lema recorded her first double-digit kill match of the season with 11.
Akin also led the team with eight blocks as part of NAU's season-best 14.0 block performance. Jorgenson and Lema recorded double-double performances with 14 and 17 digs respectively as did junior
Abby Stomp (23 assists, 12 digs).
NAU will make the short trip down to Tempe for the Sparky Classic hosted by Arizona State in its final weekend of non-conference play. The Lumberjacks will open with the Sun Devils on Friday, Sept. 14 at 11 a.m. and will close their fourth and final tournament with Texas State and Gonzaga the following day.
