FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 21, 2019) – After a slow start, the Northern Arizona volleyball team shifted gears and put away Eastern Washington in a 25-19, 25-15, 25-22 victory in the Rolle Activity Center on Thursday. The sweep was NAU's fourth straight at home and the Lumberjacks notched their fifth consecutive victory – matching a season-long streak – in improving to 19-10 overall and 12-5 in conference play.
"Early in the match, we were forcing some things and we just got back to the things we do well," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "Our attackers are good at finding the court and when they force things, it's different. I was glad we were able to turn it on especially in the second and third sets."
Sophomore
Aubrea Bandfield (23 assists) and senior
Abby Stomp (16 assists) helped the Lumberjacks overcome an error-filled start to set the team to a .314 hitting percentage in the match. NAU hit .405 and .452 in the second and third sets respectively and committed just five errors in the last two stanzas after tallying seven errors in the first set alone.
Four Lumberjack attackers, led by freshman
Taylor Jacobsen's 13 kills on .346 hitting, recorded six or more kills. NAU posted 45 kills to Eastern Washington's 29 and the Lumberjacks' defense limited the Eagles to only .083 hitting.
After junior
Heaven Harris, who posted eight kills on .400 hitting, hammered the first kill of the match, NAU proceeded to score five straight points off Eastern Washington errors during a 6-0 start. Although NAU never trailed in the opening set, the Lumberjacks struggled to find their rhythm as they hit only .108. Fortunately, Eastern Washington was held under zero hitting and committed 11 total attack errors in the first set.
NAU managed to escape hitting negative itself with six kills on its final eight points of the first game, which set the tone for the remainder of the match. From the second set on, the Lumberjacks fired on all cylinders with 34 kills in the last two sets.
Eastern Washington jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second set, but Jacobsen tallied four kills during a 13-2 run that completely flipped the scoreboard. Sophomore
Ryann Davis later recorded three consecutive kills to extend NAU's advantage out to 17-9 and the 'Jacks cruised to a 2-0 match advantage.
The Eagles forced the 'Jacks to play from behind for most of the third set before NAU came on strong late. Trailing 19-15, Harris and freshman
Neche Newton turned back an Eastern Washington swing to start a mini 4-1 run that pulled NAU within 20-19. Jacobsen tied the set at 21-21 with back-to-back kills and after Eastern Washington moved ahead for the final time one point later, NAU ripped off the last four on kills.
Jacobsen evened the set once more at 22-22 and senior
Abby Akin put NAU in front on the next point. Senior
Sydney Lema and Akin clinched the match with kills on the last two points.
"Eastern Washington's offense started clicking a little and we needed to refocus," Murphy said. "I was really impressed that we were able to turn it back on."
Jacobsen recorded six kills each in the second and third sets to pace NAU's offensive display. Akin and Lema both totaled four kills apiece in the final set.
Jacobsen also led the Lumberjacks with 16 digs as she recorded her 14th double-double of the season and third straight. Lema also reached double-digit digs with 14, helping NAU to a 53-47 advantage in the dig column.
NAU will host Idaho at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the Rolle Activity Center in its regular season finale with Senior Day recognition for Akin, Lema and Stomp preceding first serve.
