FARMINGTON, Utah (November 25, 2019) – The Northern Arizona volleyball team placed a league-high tying four players on the 2019 All-Big Sky Conference teams in an announcement on Monday. Senior
Abby Akin and junior
Heaven Harris were named to the All-Big Sky First Team while senior
Sydney Lema and freshman
Taylor Jacobsen earned spots on the All-Big Sky Second Team following a vote by the conference's head coaches.
Akin joined Janae Vander Ploeg as the only Lumberjacks to ever receive three All-Big Sky First Team honors. Akin also joins Vander Ploeg and Sydney Kemper as the only players in program history to earn four total all-conference honors.
Meanwhile, Harris became the 11th player in program history to earn three all-conference honors and with her selection to the All-Big Sky First Team, she is also the sixth Lumberjack with multiple first team nods.
NAU's two second team honorees – Lema and Jacobsen – both garnered their first career all-conference honors. Jacobsen's selection marks the fourth straight year that the 'Jacks placed a freshman on the all-conference teams. In that span, the rest of the conference has only produced three total freshman all-conference players.
Akin is well on her way to leading the Big Sky Conference in hitting percentage for the second straight season. She completed the regular season hitting .401 overall and .393 in league play. As of Monday, Akin ranks 14th nationally in hitting percentage and is in the top 60 in both block average (1.20) and total blocks (136).
Akin has once again been stellar both offensively and defensively ranking second on the team with 2.62 kills per set in addition to being the Big Sky's second-leading blocker with 1.20 per set. She has also registered 35 service aces, which is third on the team.
Harris' inclusion on the First Team speaks volumes after she missed six weeks of conference play with an injury. However since her return, the Lumberjacks have won a season-best six matches heading into this week's conference tournament and NAU was 7-0 in Big Sky play with her on the court compared to 6-5 without her.
Harris leads the team with a career-high 3.09 kills per set and is hitting .317. She ranks ninth in the conference in kill average and fifth in hitting percentage. Defensively, Harris' 0.71 blocks per set is second on the team.
Lema's best season fittingly resulted in her first all-conference honor as she has recorded career-highs in kills (211) and digs (436) through the end of the regular season. She is averaging 1.82 kills per set and hitting a career-high .207, while also amassing 26 aces at the service line.
Defensively, Lema has been as strong as ever in the back row averaging a career-high 3.76 digs per set, placing her eighth in the conference, and pacing the 'Jacks in total digs.
Jacobsen has provided impact along the net and in the back row in her first season with the Lumberjacks as she leads the conference with 14 double-doubles. As the season progressed, Jacobsen progressed as well as she averaged 2.86 kills and 3.71 digs per in league play – both of which best her season averages.
For the season, Jacobsen ranked third on the team with 2.61 kills and 3.43 digs per set. Her 0.33 aces per set is second-best on the team and seventh in the conference and she also ranks second behind only Akin with 15 solo blocks. Overall, she is averaging 0.46 blocks per set.
NAU opens up the Big Sky Championship on Thursday in Sacramento versus Idaho at approximately 2:30 p.m. MST. The Lumberjacks enters as the third seed with a 20-10 overall record and 13-5 mark in conference play.
