FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (January 22, 2021) – The long awaited season debut for the Northern Arizona volleyball team is finally here, albeit in an unconventional nine-week spring slate, as the Lumberjacks host Sacramento State at 2 p.m. in the Rolle Activity Center on Sunday. The Lumberjacks, as part of the new modified conference schedule for the spring, will play the Hornets back-to-back days with the second match on Monday at 6 p.m. Both matches will be streamed on Pluto TV Channel 1058.
"We don't know anything about Sacramento State because there was no preseason," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "We know their style and we've played against them. We know the things we need to do to prepare for them, defensively in particular, but there are so many unknowns. They're going to play great defense and there are going to be a ton of long rallies and it's going to be a great competitive match against them because it always is."
The COVID-19 pandemic postponed the typical fall season to the spring, and all 11 Big Sky teams will play four home weekends and four road weekends against the same opponent twice to comprise the 16-match Big Sky schedule. NAU is not scheduled to play any non-conference matches and the Lumberjacks' scheduled bye week that each team will have throughout the spring will come the week before the conference tournament.
Also as a result of the pandemic,
no fans will be permitted inside Rolle Activity Center this season.
The Lumberjacks, coming off their fifth 20-win campaign in the last seven seasons, were tied for second in the Big Sky Preseason Coaches Poll released in the fall. NAU picked up one first-place vote and was in a tie with Weber State behind the defending conference champions Northern Colorado. Northern Colorado will host the top eight teams at the conference tournament scheduled for March 31-April 2.
NAU returns a pair of all-conference hitters in senior
Heaven Harris and sophomore
Taylor Jacobsen from a team that reached the Big Sky semifinals in 2019. The Lumberjacks won seven of their final eight matches on their way to a 21-11 overall record and 13-5 mark in league play. Harris garnered her second straight All-Big Sky First Team nod and third career all-conference honor despite missing 11 matches due to injury. She led the Lumberjacks in kills at 3.14 per set and begins her senior season needing 86 kills to become the 15th player in school history to register 1,000 in their career.
Meanwhile, Jacobsen was named to the All-Big Sky Second Team following her debut season, and ranked second on the team behind Harris in kills at 2.68 per set. Jacobsen, the fourth NAU freshman in the last four years to earn all-conference honors, led the Lumberjacks with 15 double-doubles.
NAU enters the spring with a young roster consisting of nine underclassmen and just three returning upperclassmen. Despite the youth, six players – Harris, Jacobsen, juniors
Ryann Davis and
Aubrea Bandfield and sophomores
Jasmine West and
Neche Newton all appeared in 20 or more matches last season. All played prominent roles with Davis ranking fifth on the team with 2.01 kills per set and Bandfield averaging 4.36 assists per set. West led the team in digs at 4.27 per set and Newton ranked third on the team with 65 blocks.
NAU will open the season at home where the Lumberjacks won their final six matches last season and are a combined 70-13 over the last seven years. The Lumberjacks have been exceptional at home especially against Sacramento State, whom they have defeated 11 straight times on their home court going back to 2010. NAU swept Sacramento State in last season's meeting at home and four of the Lumberjacks' last five home victories versus the Hornets have come in three sets.
Sacramento State, which was picked fifth in the preseason poll, leads the all-time series, 37-20. The Hornets tied for fifth in the Big Sky in 2019, finishing last season with a 14-18 overall record and a 9-9 mark in league play. The Hornets were bounced in the first round of the Big Sky Tournament by Montana State in the first round.
The Hornets return a pair of All-Big Sky performers in Cianna Andrews and Ashtin Olin. Both Andrews and Olin were named to the 2019 All-Big Sky Second Team. Andrews ranked ninth in the Big Sky in both hitting percentage (.279) and blocks per set (1.06) and is the Hornets' leading returner in kills at 2.31 per set. Olin was sixth in the conference in assists, averaging 9.34 per set.
With the uniqueness of the season, Sunday's match will be NAU's season opener, home opener and conference opener all wrapped into one. Since Murphy's first season in 2013, the Lumberjacks have won five of seven season openers. NAU is also 5-2 in conference openers and 6-1 in home openers during Murphy's tenure.
To stay up to date with the NAU volleyball team, follow the Lumberjacks on
Twitter and
Instagram.
