SACRAMENTO, Calif. (October 5, 2019) – For the second time this weekend, the Northern Arizona volleyball team went the distance only to fall short as the 'Jacks suffered a 22-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-27, 18-16 defeat to Sacramento State on Saturday. The loss evened the Lumberjacks' conference record to 2-2 and dropped their overall record to 9-7.
Of NAU's seven losses, five have come in five sets. In three of their five-set losses, the Lumberjacks came up shy by two points in the decisive final set.
The Lumberjacks were held under .200 hitting for the fourth consecutive match with senior
Abby Akin pacing the team with 12 kills while attacking at a .455 clip. Akin tied a season-best with four aces and also tied for team-leading honors with four blocks – a number matched by freshman
Neche Newton and redshirt freshman
Morgan Gappmayer.
Sacramento State attacked at a .246 clip and posted 79 kills to just 46 for NAU. Both teams posted nine blocks, but the Hornets were also plus-five in the ace column (12-7).
Despite only tallying five kills in the first set, the 'Jacks claimed the opener with the help of the Hornets. Sacramento State committed nine attack errors and seven service errors, while NAU helped its cause with four service aces. Akin spurred a crucial 4-0 run with NAU leading 5-4 to give the Lumberjacks some cushion. Akin contributed a kill and two of her three first set aces during the spurt and NAU held off a late Sacramento State run to steal the first game.
An 8-0 Sacramento State snapped an 8-8 tie and the Hornets evened the match with a commanding second set. The Hornets hit .371 in the second stanza and although the Lumberjacks improved their offensive efficiency from .125 to .212, they were unable to overcome the massive Hornet surge.
After the Hornets forced a quick Lumberjack timeout leading 6-1 to start the third set, the 'Jacks stormed back with sophomore
Aubrea Bandfield at the service line. Bandfield served NAU on a 5-0 run to slice the Blue & Gold deficit to 10-9, only for Sacramento State to respond with a 6-2 run. Freshman
Taylor Jacobsen connected on a kill to bring NAU within 17-14 before Sacramento State closed the game on an 8-2 run.
Akin once again came up big with her team in need as she nearly single-handedly carried NAU on an 8-1 run that broke a 4-4 fourth set tie. Akin recorded four kills, an ace and a block during the run that gave the Lumberjacks control of the game. Sacramento State fought back though and tied it at 16-16 and NAU needed three set points to eventually finish off the set despite holding a seven-point advantage. Sophomore
Ryann Davis and Akin capped the set with kills to send the match to a winner-take-all fifth game.
The Lumberjacks used four consecutive attack errors by the Hornets to snag an initial 4-2 lead in the fifth, but the Hornets held the 8-7 edge at the changeover. Newton snuffed out a Sacramento State attack to put NAU ahead 10-9, and consecutive kills by Akin and Gappmayer put the 'Jacks at match point, 14-13. After a Sacramento State block, Akin provided NAU with a second match point with a kill.
The Hornets staved off the clincher and reached their first match point at 16-15 before Gappmayer and Newton combined for a block to tie the score at 16-16. Sacramento State finished the match with back-to-back kills to deny NAU of its first win in the Nest since 2011.
Bandfield was one of three Lumberjacks in double-digit digs and posted her third double-double of the season with 15 assists and 10 digs. Freshman
Jasmine West led the team with 24 digs – her fourth 20-dig outing in the last five matches – and junior
Olivia Turner recorded a career-high 19 digs.
NAU returns home to the Rolle Activity Center to host Montana State next Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The Lumberjacks will follow with Montana on Saturday at 1 p.m.
