MOSCOW, Idaho (October 17, 2019) – The Northern Arizona volleyball team could not slow down Idaho's attack and fell to the Vandals, 22-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-14, in the first match of their road trip on Thursday. Idaho hit .252 and posted 14.0 blocks to hand the Lumberjacks (10-9, 3-4 Big Sky) their fifth straight loss away from Flagstaff in the last month.
Although the 'Jacks were significantly outhit (.252-.185) and outblocked (14.0-4.0), they only registered one fewer kill than the Vandals (49-48). Senior
Abby Akin led four 'Jacks in double-figure kills with 13. However, NAU was hampered by a season-high 18 service errors, which helped Idaho hold a plus-15 point advantage at the service line between aces and errors.
"Our receive broke down a little bit and our serving got in our head," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "That played through the rest of the match and made things harder. Early in the match, we were making some really good decisions hitting-wise and later in the match we forced some things. We took some steps forward today, but we proved to ourselves that we need to keep our composure a little longer when things get tight."
The Lumberjacks actually came out firing with senior
Abby Stomp, who finished with 40 assists, setting the team to 19 kills on .362 hitting to claim the opening game. Akin posted six kills and sophomore
Ryann Davis totaled five of her season-high tying 12 kills in the first set. Tied every step of the way to 9-9, Akin pounded two kills and freshman
Taylor Jacobsen notched an ace during a quick three-point surge to push NAU ahead, 14-10.
The 'Jacks increased their advantage to 22-16 after a Jacobsen solo block and kill before the Vandals scored four straight to cut the NAU lead to two. Despite the late Idaho rally, Akin closed the set with a kill that found the back corner, and NAU clinched the first set despite totaling seven service errors.
The second set started out tightly contested, as did the first, but the Lumberjacks managed to hold a 13-12 edge following a kill by Jacobsen. The Vandals followed with a 5-0 run that proved to be monumental, although Davis and freshman
Neche Newton combined for a block to bring NAU within 20-18 late. However, Idaho finished the set with another 5-0 run to even the match.
NAU defended Idaho well in the third set with the Vandals hitting a match-low .118 in the game, but the home team stifled the 'Jacks into only .083 hitting behind six blocks. Still, the set was tied at 19-19 after an Akin kill only for Idaho to go on a 6-2 run to capture the important third game.
As close as the first three sets were with 26 combined ties and eight lead changes, the fourth set was anything but as Idaho opened with a 10-1 run. The Lumberjacks trailed by as much as 12, but they did slice their deficit in half following kills by Newton, Davis and senior
Sydney Lema and an ace by sophomore
Aubrea Bandfield. The 4-0 NAU run closed the gap to 16-10 before Idaho ripped off seven straight points.
Davis (12 kills, 11 digs), Jacobsen (10 kills, 14 digs) and Turner (10 kills, 11 digs) each recorded double-doubles for the second consecutive match. Lema also reached double-figures with 13 digs.
Next, NAU makes the short trip to Cheney, Wash. to face Eastern Washington on Saturday at 2 p.m.
