ROCHESTER, Mich. (August 31, 2019) – The Northern Arizona volleyball team could not convert on set point in the fourth to extend the match and ultimately suffered their second consecutive loss of the weekend, 25-17, 18-25, 25-21, 26-24, at the hands of Oakland. With the loss, the 'Jacks concluded the Michigan Invitational – and the opening weekend of the 2019 season – with a 1-2 mark.
"Oakland played great and we struggled to get settled the entire day," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "We couldn't get our side under control, so everything felt like a struggle. To Oakland's credit, they didn't let us get comfortable in the match. There's great things we can learn from this though, and the team definitely fought hard throughout the match."
Junior
Olivia Turner provided a spark in reserve, recording career-highs in kills (11) and hitting percentage (.379) to help pace an NAU attack that actually outhit Oakland, .246-.242. However, the Golden Grizzlies totaled 14 more kills than the Lumberjacks and were plus-six (10-4) in the service ace column.
Junior
Heaven Harris, who led NAU with 12 kills on Saturday, came out firing with two straight kills to open the match. The teams battled to six ties until Oakland broke the set open with a 9-0 run, snapping a 13-13 tie. The Golden Grizzlies seized control by forcing the 'Jacks into four attack errors and adding four aces during the run. Despite five first-set kills by Harris, the Lumberjacks were unable to recover as they ultimately hit only .071 in the opening stanza.
NAU turned to Turner and she responded with five second-set kills to ignite the Lumberjack offense. With the set tied at 12-12, NAU scored three straight points and never trailed again as the Lumberjacks managed to tie the match at one set apiece.
After improving to .316 hitting in the second set, the Lumberjacks' attack only got better in the third set as the Blue & Gold hit .367. Unfortunately, the Golden Grizzlies hit .355 in the swing game that featured 10 ties and six lead changes. A tandem block by senior
Abby Akin and Harris capped a three-point spurt that put NAU in front, 13-12, but Oakland responded with three straight points of its own.
Oakland regained the advantage at 15-13 and maintained its edge the rest of the way, although senior
Sydney Lema got NAU within 21-20 late with a kill. The Golden Grizzlies clinched the critical third set by scoring four of the final five points.
Needing a victory to survive and force a fifth game, the Lumberjacks appeared well on their way with Akin and sophomore
Ryann Davis combining for two straight blocks to pad NAU's lead at 17-11. After an Oakland timeout, Akin and Lema turned back another Golden Grizzly attack.
The Lumberjacks' lead vanished though with the Golden Grizzlies roaring back to take a 20-19 advantage, only for NAU to respond with four straight points to reclaim a 23-20 lead. The back-and-forth action continued with Oakland tying the score at 23-23 before Harris pounded a kill off the block to get NAU to set point. However, Oakland held off set point and scored the final three points of the match to secure the win in its home opener.
Senior
Abby Stomp handed out a season-best 26 assists, while freshman
Jasmine West led the Lumberjacks with 13 digs and two aces. Sophomore
Aubrea Bandfield notched the team's first double-double of the season with 15 assists and 12 digs and Akin paced NAU's blocks advantage (10.0-9.0) with seven stuffs.
NAU will turn its attention to the Seton Hall Classic next weekend in South Orange, N.J. where the Lumberjacks will start off the tournament with a Friday doubleheader versus the host and Northeastern at 8 a.m. MST and 1:30 p.m. MST respectively.
