FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (August 14, 2019) – The Northern Arizona volleyball team understand that their opponents in the Big Sky Conference will be coming for them this fall. After all, the 2019 conference championship will go through the Lumberjacks as the defending champions. But just five days into preseason camp, the 'Jacks are already showing signs that they are primed for all challenges that await them starting in just two weeks.
"I like how hard we're playing and how physical it is in our gym right now," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "We're really strong at the net and our defenders are doing a really good job of making it tough for our attackers. There is such a competitive spirit in the gym considering how early in camp we are."
Although NAU is less than a week into camp, the Lumberjacks are enjoying the luxury of extra court time available to them earlier this summer as a result of their Europe tour.
The summer workouts in addition to the two-a-day sessions in camp will be prove critical when NAU opens up the season at the Michigan Invitational on Aug. 30 because the Lumberjacks are working towards filling the holes left with the graduation of
Kaylie Jorgenson,
Brittni Dorsey and
Jordan Anderson.
"We have a head start knowing where our strengths and our weaknesses are," Murphy said. "We've already hit on our weak areas a lot during the first couple of days. We've seen a ton of progress already and our freshmen are playing less and less like freshmen every day."
NAU has already seen growth in all areas of the game through the early going in camp, but the Lumberjacks' serve receive has been a standout thus far.
"Our serve receive and first contact on defense is so much better," Murphy said. "We know we have some younger players at those positions. Our setters are doing an outstanding job and we have a lot of returning attackers, middles and rights. If we can take care of the first ball, that's a good sign for us."
Season and single-match tickets are available for purchase for the upcoming NAU Volleyball season at this
link. Season tickets are available for $40 for general admission to all 12 of the Lumberjacks' home matches, while single-match tickets are $4.50. For more information, contact the Lumberjack Ticket Office at
LumberjackTicketOffice@nau.edu or 928-523-0639.
Fans can catch the Lumberjacks in action next Saturday, Aug. 24 when they host UNLV for an exhibition match at 2 p.m. in Rolle Activity Center. The exhibition match is free for all fans.
