FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 6, 2019) – Finally at the end of a grueling three-week stretch away from home, the Northern Arizona volleyball team hosts Sacramento State and Portland State this Thursday and Saturday in the Rolle Activity Center. Both matches will start at 6:30 p.m. with Saturday's match following the NAU football game in the Skydome.
The Lumberjacks will have the luxury of their first true two-match homestand in a month after playing five of six matches on the road over the last three weeks. NAU came out of the stretch with a 4-2 record in those six matches to remain within striking distance of second place in the conference standings.
NAU is tied with Sacramento State, its Thursday opponent, with a 7-5 conference record. The two teams are tied for fourth in the Big Sky standings entering Thursday's tilt and are just one game behind in the loss column from Weber State and Idaho for second. The Lumberjacks (14-10 overall) will be seeking to dish out a couple of losses to the Hornets and Vikings this week after suffering 3-2 defeats to both teams on the road during the second weekend of conference play. The two losses started a string of three consecutive five-set losses after NAU opened conference play with two victories.
"We're not thinking too much about the matches we've had with these two teams," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "We want to take care of ourselves. Last Saturday we had an example of a match we didn't want to play, but we've had so many recent ones where we had control of our side. We want to stay focused on that and gain the consistency we've been looking for all year. The last three weeks have been really productive and we've learned a lot about ourselves."
Last week, NAU defeated Idaho State, 3-1, and were swept by Weber State, 3-0, on the road. Freshman
Taylor Jacobsen led the offensive with 3.50 kills per set while senior
Abby Akin hit .432 last week. Freshman
Lillian Thomas, in her first two collegiate matches, averaged 7.71 digs per set including a 37-dig performance in the victory against Idaho State.
Following another outstanding week, Akin moved up to 10th in the country in hitting percentage as she leads the Big Sky with a .419 attack clip for the season. The next closest player is hitting .333. With three weeks remaining in the regular season, Akin is slowly closing in on a couple of milestones. She is just 47 kills away from becoming 14th member of the 1,000 kill club and is 12 sets away from becoming NAU's all-time leader in career sets played. Last week, she also gained sole possession of second all-time in career blocks and is 18 away from 500 for her career.
Senior
Sydney Lema is also close to moving up another spot in NAU's career digs list. With 1,407 to enter the week, she is 50 shy of tying
Jordan Anderson for third all-time.
Speaking of five-set matches, Sacramento State has played three straight itself, including a 3-2 victory against Idaho and a 3-2 loss to Eastern Washington last week at home. After winning four in a row beginning with their win over the 'Jacks on Oct. 5, the Hornets (12-13, 7-5 Big Sky) have gone 2-3 in their last five matches. Sacramento State is second in league play with 13.25 kills per set, slightly better than its season average of 12.42. The Hornets are hitting .188 for the season and opponents are hitting .193.
Portland State also hosted Eastern Washington and Idaho last week with the Vikings picking up a 3-1 victory over the Eagles. They fell to the Vandals, 3-1, two nights later and are 9-14 overall and 5-7 in conference play. The Vikings don't make it easy on their opponents averaging 16.98 digs per set, which rank second overall in the conference this season. Portland State is attacking at a .170 clip while allowing its opponents to hit .194.
Thursday's match will be a themed Game Night with fans having the opportunity to win free movie tickets.
Fans can catch the Lumberjacks on Pluto TV Channel 539 online at this
link and on the free mobile Pluto TV app. Live stats will be available at this
link.
About Sacramento State:
Record: 12-13, 7-5 Big Sky
Big Sky Standings: Tied for Fourth
All-Time Series: SAC, 37-19
Last Meeting: SAC, 3-2 (Oct. 5, 2019)
About Portland State:
Record: 9-14, 5-7 Big Sky
Big Sky Standings: Tied for Seventh
All-Time Series: NAU, 28-21
Last Meeting: PSU, 3-2 (Oct. 3, 2019)
