NAU Volleyball Blitzes Sacramento State, 3-0, in Spring Opening Sweep

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (January 24, 2021) – The Northern Arizona volleyball team ripped through Sacramento State, 25-15, 25-22, 25-19, on Sunday to open the spring season with a bang in the Rolle Activity Center. The Lumberjacks hit .357 and limited the Hornets to a .136 clip in winning their return to the court for the first time in 422 days.
 
"I was really impressed," said head coach Ken Murphy. "What today showed was that we were able to practice since August. There's no doubt, you have a match like this and you have such a young team out there that you have to be impressed with how we controlled our side especially in a back-and-forth second set. This gets me excited for the future for sure."
 
With three freshmen on the court during the opening serve and four total in the rotation, the Lumberjacks' youth was apparent in numbers. However, NAU's commanding victory was anything but indicative of the Lumberjacks' lack of match experience on day one of the season.
 
A large reason for that was the performance of sophomore Taylor Jacobsen, who put down a resounding 18 kills without an error on 28 swings. Hitting a career-best .643, Jacobsen's 18 kills were the most by a Lumberjack in a three-set match since her older sister Lauren hammered 19 kills in a sweep of San Francisco on Sept. 17, 2016.
 
Jacobsen put away the first two points of the match on kills and had six total in the first set as part of a blistering opening stanza by the 'Jacks. The Lumberjacks hit .417 in the opener and broke open a 10-8 score with a 7-1 run. Just as Jacobsen started the match, she closed the set with two kills giving NAU the 1-0 lead in the match.
 
NAU jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the second set, but Sacramento State answered every Lumberjack run with a run of its own in the afternoon's most competitive game. Two straight Sacramento State points pulled the Hornets within 21-20, but the Lumberjacks received a pair of kills from Jacobsen along with one each from sophomore Neche Newton and freshman Lyla Hollis to wrap up the set.
 
"We had to be resilient," Murphy said of the second set. "You have to be steady especially in serve receive and for a young team, I actually thought that was a good situation for us to be in. Sometimes matches go back-and-forth like that, and we talked about reinvesting in our defense. We got refocused with our defense and were able to score the last couple of points to pull away."
 
While Jacobsen shouldered a heavy load in the second set with eight of her 18 kills, senior Heaven Harris also registered five kills and freshman Lyla Hollis converted all four of her swings for points to help the 'Jacks move within a game of the sweep.
 
The Lumberjacks appeared on the verge of an easy sweep courtesy of a 6-0 run – aided by three of the Hornets' 19 total attack errors – that extended NAU's third set lead out to 19-11, but the Hornets would not go silently.
 
Trailing 22-13, Sacramento State scored six of the next seven points to climb back to 23-19 before junior Ryann Davis put the Lumberjacks at match point with a kill. A final attack error by the Hornets proved to be the clincher, securing NAU's 12th consecutive home win over Sacramento State.
 
Jacobsen was joined by Harris in double-figure kills, with the senior totaling 10 on .529 hitting. Hollis came up a kill shy of double-digits herself in her collegiate debut, while Newton, Davis and freshman Jordan Elder each had four kills apiece. NAU's 50 kills was the team's most in a three-set match since recording 50 versus Montana State on Nov. 22, 2018.
 
Junior Aubrea Bandfield posted 26 assists while freshman Kate Hatch had 16. Freshman Millie O'Ketter, at the libero position in her debut match, led all players with 15 digs and Jacobsen was close behind with 13 in a double-double effort. Newton had a hand in four of NAU's six team blocks, as the Lumberjacks held the narrow edge in blocks, 6.0-5.0.
 
NAU and Sacramento State conclude the first week of the season with a rematch on Monday at 6 p.m. in the Rolle Activity Center.
 
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