SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. (September 6, 2019) – Despite having five players in double-figure kills for the first time in nearly 15 years, the Northern Arizona volleyball team fell short against Northeastern, 25-21, 12-25, 22-25, 25-21, 16-14. The loss dropped the Lumberjacks' record to 2-3 overall as they split Friday's Seton Hall Classic action at Walsh Gymnasium.
The Lumberjacks hit a blistering .373 in the match – and .300 or better in four of five sets – with junior
Heaven Harris pacing five 'Jacks in double-digits with 16 kills. Senior
Abby Akin (14), freshman
Taylor Jacobsen (12), sophomore
Ryann Davis (11) and senior
Sydney Lema (10) joined Harris with 10-plus kills. Akin hit a team-best .520 as herself, Jacobsen, Harris and Davis all upwards of .300.
It was the first time that NAU had five players with double-digit kills in a match since the sport switched to the current 25-point format. Previously, the last instance was Sept. 18, 2004 when Ellie Butterfield, Kailee Savage, Katy Knowlton, Renee Lathrop and Cybeles Onugebulem all reached the 10-kill plateau versus Georgetown.
"We received (serve) well and our setters did a great job of keeping us on balance," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "We're seeing positive things especially when the outside hitter numbers were as high as they were. It definitely shows that we're improving and good things are happening, but we go through stretches where we're sloppy and we give away points."
Senior
Abby Stomp and sophomore
Aubrea Bandfield set NAU to its best offensive performance of the young season and both players set season-highs in assists. Stomp led NAU with 30, while Bandfield notched a career-high 28.
NAU outhit Northeastern, .373-.226, and also held advantages in kills (68-66), blocks (8.0-5.0) and digs (74-65). However, Northeastern was plus-five in the ace column (10-5) and NAU committed six more service errors (12-6).
After Northeastern forced a decisive fifth set by claiming the fourth, the Huskies led 9-6 in final game before redshirt senior
Victoria Ewalefo and Harris pushed the 'Jacks forward. Ewalefo blocked consecutive Northeastern attacks to knot the scoreboard up at 9-9, and Harris terminated three straight NAU points to cap a 6-1 run that gave the Blue & Gold a 12-10 lead.
The Huskies managed to bring the score even again though at 13-13, only for Jacobsen and Akin to combine for a block to put the Lumberjacks at match point. Northeastern staved off the ensuing match point by sending back an NAU attack before clinching the victory with two straight kills.
Northeastern struck first, taking the opening game – the only set that the Huskies outhit the Lumberjacks. NAU played from behind for most of the set and pulled within one at 19-18 following an ace by freshman
Jasmine West. West's ace forced a Northeastern timeout, but the Huskies rattled off five straight to get to set point. NAU fought off three set points before Northeastern closed with a kill.
The 'Jacks were undeterred and convincingly evened the match at one set apiece in a wire-to-wire second set. NAU raced out to a 5-0 lead and hit .519 in the game. During a seven-point Lumberjack stretch that pushed NAU's advantage out to 14-4, Davis tallied five kills – a number which was matched by Harris in the set.
NAU snagged a 2-1 lead in the match by prevailing in a third set that featured eight ties and four lead changes. Lema spurred a 5-0 Lumberjack spurt with three kills that reversed a 15-13 deficit and put NAU ahead, 18-15. Northeastern eventually tied the score at 22-22, but Akin and Jacobsen broke the tie with subsequent kills. Akin clinched the set with one final kill, putting NAU within a set of victory.
Unfortunately, the third set win proved to be elusive with Northeastern rallying for victories in the final two games. In the fourth set, Northeastern snapped an 11-11 tie with three straight points and never trailed again. Akin's solo block brought NAU to 21-20 late, only for Northeastern to force a fifth set by recording four of the final five points.
"We had a little bit of a hard time controlling our side," Murphy said. "It's crushing because to outstat them like we did and not come out on top. The good thing is that our skill-level is improving and a lot of things are going well. We're committed shoring it up."
Defensively, West set a new season-best with 24 digs in her second career 20-dig match. Lema's season-high 17 digs helped her record her second double-double in as many matches on Friday, while Jacobsen notched her first career double-double with 14 digs. Jacobsen also recorded a season-best four blocks, which only trailed Akin's six on the team.
NAU will face La Salle on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. MST in its final match at the Seton Hall Classic.
