MATCH NOTES
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (August 28, 2019) – The Northern Arizona volleyball team will be tested immediately to open the 2019 season with three matches in the state of Michigan starting with a Friday doubleheader against Tennessee Tech and No. 15 Michigan in Ann Arbor at 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. MST respectively. The Lumberjacks will follow with a second-straight true road match on Saturday at Oakland in Rochester at 1 p.m. MST.
NAU enters the season as the unanimous favorite in the Big Sky Preseason Poll. The 'Jacks received all 10 possible first-place votes with the conference head coaches not allowed to vote for their own team.
Last Saturday, the 'Jacks hosted UNLV in the Rolle Activity Center in an exhibition match, which NAU claimed three out of four sets. The Lumberjacks rebounded from a first set loss to take the next three sets against the Rebels, an NIVC semifinalist last season.
"We played a set where we were a little shaky, anxious and out of sorts, but we still competed really hard," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "We were able to maintain that competitive level throughout the match and settle our nerves down. We looked like NAU Volleyball, with the way we play defense and the way we communicate. I came out of the match knowing we have room to grow, but we are far along with the way we want to play and the impact we want to put on our opponents."
The Lumberjacks are the defending Big Sky champions, compiling a 26-9 overall record last season including a 15-3 tally in conference play. NAU swept through the conference tournament to clinch its second NCAA Tournament appearance in the last four years. NAU's returners are headlined by 2018 All-Big Sky First Team honorees, senior
Abby Akin and junior
Heaven Harris. Sophomore
Ryann Davis, a Second Team selection and the reigning Big Sky Outstanding Freshman, gives the Lumberjacks three total all-conference returnees.
Harris, who was also voted the Most Valuable Player of the Big Sky Championship, was second on the team a year ago and leads the returning Lumberjacks with a sophomore season average of 2.89 kills per set. Akin and Davis were third and fourth respectively last season with 2.60 and 2.01 kills per set.
Senior
Sydney Lema (1.57 kills per set) also returns, as does senior
Abby Stomp (6.29 assists per set) and sophomore
Aubrea Bandfield (5.03 assists per set) to round out NAU's six returning letterwinners. In all, NAU returns nine players from its 2018 championship roster and adds five freshmen.
Friday night's tilt against No. 15 Michigan is the Lumberjacks' marquee match of the weekend. The Wolverines advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2018 and are coming off a 24-10 season with an 11-9 record in the Big Ten Conference.
"We respect Michigan and they have such a great tradition, but I know we'll compete and it's going to be a good measuring stick for us moving forward," Murphy said. "We have some questions to answer about our team still and this weekend we can start making progress towards answering them. We've trained a lot together and we've played a lot of competition over the summer and we're ready."
NAU's season-opening opponent will be Tennessee Tech out of the Ohio Valley Conference. The Golden Eagles were 11-19 overall and 5-11 in conference play. The 'Jacks close out the first weekend of the season on Saturday less than 60 miles north of Ann Arbor in Rochester at the home of Oakland. The Golden Grizzlies were 10-17 overall last season and 6-10 in Horizon League action.
Friday's matches will not streamed online, but live stats will be available at this
link. Saturday's match will be streamed on
ESPN+ with a paid subscription. Live stats for the Oakland match will be available
here.
About Tennessee Tech:
2018 Record: 11-19, 5-11 Ohio Valley
2019 Preseason OVC Poll: Ninth
All-Time Series: First Meeting
About No. 15 Michigan:
2018 Record: 24-10, 11-9 Big Ten
2019 Preseason Big Ten Poll: Seventh
All-Time Series: First Meeting
About Oakland:
2018 Record: 10-17, 6-10 Horizon League
2019 Preseason Horizon League Poll: Fourth
All-Time Series: First Meeting
