Volleyball Opens Conference Play in Rolle with Weber State and Idaho State

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (September 24, 2019) – The Northern Arizona volleyball team will open their Big Sky slate at home for the third consecutive year, starting the conference schedule with Weber State on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. and Idaho State on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Rolle Activity Center.

The Lumberjacks have won 11 straight matches at home dating back to last season, equaling the fourth-longest home win streak. However, NAU has dropped its last two Big Sky openers to Northern Colorado in 2017 and Idaho State in 2018.

NAU came out of the first four weeks of the season, which included three trips to the Eastern Time Zone and three matches against Power Five schools, with a 7-5 record. The Lumberjacks closed out the non-conference schedule with the Gators Invitational last week where NAU swept Louisiana before falling to No. 11 Florida and Liberty.

"We're confident in the level of play that we're capable of," said head coach Ken Murphy. "We've shown several times in the first four weeks that we can compete against really good teams and control the match. This stretch was about as challenging as it could've been for this team and we had some bumps. But this team has been resilient and we're learning the hard lessons really fast. We're looking forward to a little more consistency in the schedule and more time to practice to grow as a team."

Junior Heaven Harris represented the 'Jacks on the All-Tournament Team – her fourth honor in as many tournaments – last week. Harris averaged 2.91 kills and 1.00 blocks per set in the three matches last week while hitting .300. Harris ranks seventh in the Big Sky with a team-leading 3.05 kills per set heading into conference play. She also ranks sixth in the league in hitting percentage at .335.

Senior Abby Stomp and sophomore Aubrea Bandfield have distributed the Lumberjack offense to a Big Sky best .262 hitting percentage. NAU has five players averaging 1.89 kills per set or better with senior Abby Akin (2.41) and freshman Taylor Jacobsen (2.17) ranking second and third respectively on the team behind Harris.

In addition to leading the Big Sky in hitting percentage at .418, Akin ranks second with a team-leading 1.44 blocks per set. Freshman Jasmine West, after recording a season-high 28 digs versus Liberty this past Saturday, moved up to fourth in the conference with a team-high 4.43 digs per set. West is one of two Lumberjacks ranked in the top 10 in digs with senior Sydney Lema ranking ninth with 3.23 per set.

As a team, NAU ranks second in opponent hitting percentage (.184), kills (12.32) and assists (11.55). The Lumberjacks also enter conference play third in aces (1.66), fourth in digs (15.20) and fifth in blocks (2.34) in the conference.

Thursday's Big Sky opener versus Weber State will be a showdown between the top two teams in the Big Sky Preseason Poll. Despite coming in second behind NAU in the poll, Weber State takes a conference-leading 9-2 record. The Wildcats – the conference's leader in kills, assists, blocks and opponent hitting percentage – have won five straight matches. Weber State picked up two victories over in-state opponents last week. The Wildcats went to Utah Valley and earned a four-set win and then returned to Ogden to sweep Utah State.

After starting out the season with a 3-1 mark, Idaho State has dropped eight straight matches to carry a 3-9 mark into conference play. Idaho State leads the conference in digs. The Bengals played a pair of matches at the Boise State Classic last week. Idaho State was swept by the host and fell to UC Irvine in four sets.

"Weber State has had the best preseason and they've been the most consistent," Murphy said. "They're all upperclassmen and they play with a lot of maturity. That's going to be a great test for us right off the bat. Idaho State has always been a rival, even before I got here, and we know they're good and will be a great challenge for us on Saturday."

Both of this week's matches will be available on Pluto TV Channel 539 on their free mobile app and online at this link. Live stats will be available here.