PORTLAND, Ore. (January 30, 2021) – Sometimes the box score isn't pretty, but the result in the win column makes it all better. That was exactly the case for the Northern Arizona volleyball team on Saturday with the Lumberjacks squeaking out a 25-22, 17-25, 25-20, 13-25, 15-12 victory against Portland State to open the teams' weekend series in Viking Pavilion.
Going the distance for the first time this season, NAU (2-1) showed resolve pushing through 18 service errors and an attack that was stifled at times. Senior
Heaven Harris and sophomore
Taylor Jacobsen combined for 28 of NAU's 45 kills to lead the Lumberjacks past the Vikings, who dropped their first Big Sky match of the spring.
"Good things come out of everything," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "Today we struggled with our serve receive and didn't get into a rhythm offensively but we fought. We turned it into a defensive match, which we put a lot of pride in as a program. The fourth set got away from us, but it was good for us to be in a fifth set – a back-and-forth set – where we had to keep our composure when some things didn't go our way."
Portland State's .210 attack percentage slight edged out NAU's clip of .208 even though the Vikings posted 12 more kills (57-45) than the Lumberjacks. NAU did outblock Portland State, 8.0-5.0, with junior
Ryann Davis, sophomore
Neche Newton and freshman
Savannah Bloom each recording four blocks.
Even though NAU totaled 18 service errors, the Lumberjacks registered 13 aces, which tied the team's highest total since they recorded 13 against, coincidentally, Portland State on Nov. 16, 2017. Freshman
Millie O'Ketter paced the team with four – none bigger than her last to put NAU at match point – while freshman
Lyla Hollis had three.
In fact, 11 of the Lumberjacks' 13 aces came via freshmen between O'Ketter, Hollis, Bloom and
Kate Hatch.
After the teams traded set victories through four games, Saturday came down to a decisive fifth set – Portland State's third consecutive fifth-set match. Consecutive kills by Hollis and Jacobsen gave the 'Jacks a 9-7 lead, only for the Vikings to eventually it at 12-12. The eighth and final tie of the fifth alone would be the last though, with the Lumberjacks scoring the final three points of the match.
A Viking service error gave the Lumberjacks sideout at 13-12 and O'Ketter's fourth ace dipped right in front of the Portland State backline on the ensuing serve. On match point, Harris found the back corner for her team-high 15th kill to clinch the win. Harris hit .433 in the victory.
NAU started the match strong and had its serve working early with three aces – two by Hollis and one by Bloom – during a 5-1 run that forced a Portland State timeout at 12-7 in the opening game. Portland State came out of the timeout with a 6-1 run that moved the Vikings in front, only for NAU to respond with a 4-0 run to reclaim an 18-15 lead on a kill by Harris.
The Lumberjacks claimed the first set, but the Vikings evened the match at one set apiece with a massive 10-2 run that turned a 9-8 deficit into an 18-11 lead that NAU could not overcome.
While the first two sets featured 16 ties and 10 lead changes, the next two games were wire-to-wire victories for each team. The third set went to the Lumberjacks as NAU raced out to a 5-1 lead and never looked back. NAU hit .273 in the set, had six different players record an ace and took advantage of seven Portland State attack errors to move within a set win of the match.
However, Portland State had other ideas as the Vikings did not trail in a dominating fourth set. The Vikings scored the first three points, then extended their lead out to 8-2 before eventually scoring seven of the final nine points in the game. Portland State hit .406 in the stanza while NAU was held to only a .148 attack percentage.
"Obviously you'd like to play a little better and get into a better flow as the match goes on, but teams need to prove themselves that they can be successful with the way that we play," Murphy said. "Even the fifth set was a little uneven, but we were aggressive and playing the way we want to play and for us to build confidence in those situations, it's important to prove to ourselves that our style of volleyball works in critical moments at the end of the match."
In all, there were 24 ties and 13 lead changes in a five-set match that went the Lumberjacks' way as opposed to a five-set loss they suffered on that same court during their last trip to Portland.
Jacobsen was the only other Lumberjack besides Harris with double-digit kills, finishing with 13 kills to go with 13 digs, and she was one of three 'Jacks to post double-doubles. Both of NAU's setters – junior
Aubrea Bandfield (20 assists, 11 digs) and Hatch (16 assists, 10 digs) also registered double-double performances.
With Hollis and O'Ketter each totaling a team-high 16 digs, it was the first match that NAU had five players with 10+ digs since Sept. 1, 2018 versus Western Michigan.
The Lumberjacks and Vikings conclude their series in Portland at 2 p.m. MST on Sunday.
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