PURCHASE SEASON TICKETS
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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (August 27, 2019) – Winning a championship is difficult. Repeating is an even bigger task. But with an experienced group ready to defend their Big Sky Conference crown, the Northern Arizona volleyball team is armed to attack the 2019 season, which starts Friday in Ann Arbor, Mich. vs. Tennessee Tech and No. 15 Michigan.
After sharing the Big Sky regular season title with Idaho, NAU swept through the 2018 conference tournament to hoist the hardware for the second time in four years. NAU returns nine players, including six letterwinners, from its 26-9 (15-3 Big Sky) squad that advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
With six of nine rotation players back, along with the return of a former starter from injury, the Lumberjacks hope to ride familiar strengths – service pressure and defense – to high levels of success once again.
"After practicing for a couple of weeks, our strengths will be similar to years past," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "We are serving with good efficiency and we're hoping to hold teams to a low (hitting) percentage night in and night out with strong defense and blocking."
DEALING WITH EXPECTATIONS
There is no doubt that expectations are high for the Lumberjacks. Look no further than the Big Sky Preseason Poll conducted by the league's head coaches where NAU was the unanimous pick to defend its championship. Yet, the message is simple. Last year is in the past.
The Lumberjacks acknowledge the expectations, but are also focused on proving it on the court. Each season is a new journey with new challenges and all NAU can do is control the controllables and aim to be playing its best volleyball at the end of the season.
"Sometimes, there is a rush when expectations are high," Murphy said. "However this team is doing a really good job of enjoying every day. Even if we play a good match, they're thinking about what they can do better when November comes around. There is a lot of room to grow between now and November and we need to be patient with the process."
Looking at NAU's roster, there is reason to think big about the 2019 Lumberjacks. There are three returning all-conference players in senior
Abby Akin, junior
Heaven Harris and sophomore
Ryann Davis – coincidentally the last three Big Sky Outstanding Freshman awardees.
Akin is joined in a senior class by
Sydney Lema and
Abby Stomp, each of whom begin their final seasons already ranked in the top 10 in program history in blocks, digs and assists respectively. Akin also is the Big Sky Conference's career leader in hitting percentage at .383 through her first three years.
DYNAMIC DUOS
A lot of the Lumberjacks' success this season will be predicated on NAU's middle blocker tandem of Akin and redshirt senior
Victoria Ewalefo, and Harris and Davis on the right side.
"We have a really strong presence at the net, especially when it comes to defending outside hitters, which is such a big part of this game," Murphy said. "Our rights and our middles have the ability to take over matches and affect the mentality of our team both offensively and defensively."
As if Akin's 2.60 kills per set on .404 hitting – eighth-best in the nation last season – was not a tall task for opponents to defend, Ewalefo is back and healthy, forming a formidable NAU duo in the middle.
Ewalefo was sidelined for the entire 2018 season as she recovered from an injury, but when she was last seen on the court, she started 21 matches in 2017 and hit .350 while averaging 1.31 kills per set.
Meanwhile, Harris is NAU's returning kills leader at 2.89 per set. Davis averaged 2.01 kills per set in her collegiate debut in 2018.
"A lot of teams are really unbalanced with the outside hitter," Murphy said. "Being strong at those two positions gives us such good balance and makes us hard to defend and isolate on any one player at a given time."
While the Lumberjacks' middles and right sides gives returning setters, Stomp and sophomore
Aubrea Bandfield, a wealth of attacking options in NAU's 6-2 system, the foursome are equally effective on the defensive end at the net.
Akin's 136 blocks and 1.09 block average led the 'Jacks a year ago.
A DIFFERENT LOOK
NAU's middles and opposites will help alleviate the load from the left side, where the Lumberjacks have relied heavily in years past.
Lema, a stalwart since day one, anchors NAU's outside hitter group where the 'Jacks are a little inexperienced behind her. Lema averaged 1.57 kills per set offensively last season and is the Lumberjacks' returning digs leader with 3.66 per set.
Behind Lema, junior
Olivia Turner is next most experienced outside hitter with just six Division I matches to her name. Turner, a transfer from Seattle Pacific, made three starts for NAU last season and averaged 1.21 kills per set.
Not only will NAU's relative inexperience at outside hitter show initially on the offensive side, but it will play a part in the Lumberjacks' serve receive with NAU also turning to one of two true freshmen –
Jasmine West and
Lillian Thomas – at the libero position.
"We have new players on the court, particularly in serve receive," Murphy said. "Both of our liberos are freshmen. We know that if we can be solid there, the rest of our experience will make up for it."
Lema's steadiness in the back row will be crucial as NAU navigates the early portion of the season with inexperience in serve receive as Turner, along with fellow outside hitters freshman
Taylor Jacobsen and redshirt freshman
Morgan Gappmayer, and NAU's first-year defensive specialists acclimate to the collegiate game.
"Two weeks ago, (serve receive) was a little bit of a weakness for us, but we think it could turn into a strength at some point during the season. In the meantime, our experience especially in terms of how we serve and block, will fill that gap."
NATIONAL RELEVANCE
When NAU shocked No. 8 Florida last September at home, the Lumberjacks only further enhanced their ever-growing spot on the national map. Between two trips to the NCAA Tournament in the last four years and only 17 teams posted more victories than the Lumberjacks' 26 in 2018, the program Murphy has built is at unprecedented heights.
"In the volleyball community, a lot of people are aware of what our program is doing," Murphy said. "With the national recognition we've gotten, where we stand in the power rankings, people are aware that we are a team to watch out for. We're fine if people overlook us, but internally we feel we have strength and can compete with anyone."
One way to look at NAU's stature on the national landscape relative to its Big Sky counterparts can be viewed at the non-conference schedule. The Lumberjacks will make two trips to tournaments hosted by Power Five programs with just three conference schools (Idaho State, Montana State and Sacramento State) visiting Power Five opponents.
Both of NAU's Power Five foes (No. 10 Florida and No. 15 Michigan) are ranked in the top 15 of the AVCA Preseason Poll. Only one other Big Sky school (Weber State at No. 9 BYU) will play a preseason top 15 opponent.
Add in NAU luring LSU to its Lumberjack Classic in the third week of the season, and it is clear that the 'Jacks are a respected program outside of the Big Sky Conference. It also means greater challenges on the court, but the Lumberjacks are undeterred.
"It's been a long time where we've been nervous about who we're playing," Murphy said. "We have confidence that our systems are good. We have 14 really good players in our gym right now, so raising the overall level of depth in our gym has made a huge impact."
