FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (October 21, 2021) – The Northern Arizona volleyball team outhit Montana State, but the Lumberjacks could not pull out the five-set win in the Rolle Activity Center Thursday night. The Bobcats moved ahead of the 'Jacks in the league standings with a 25-18, 23-25, 25-18, 13-25, 15-11 victory, sending NAU (7-11, 5-4 Big Sky) to its second consecutive home loss.
"We knew it was going to be a great match. Montana State is a good team and we came in tonight tied in the standings," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "We're disappointed with the way we competed. We were flat to start the match and we didn't get into a great flow until the fourth set, and when we did we were really good for a while. Statistically we had the advantage, but made a lot of little mistakes on our side that we'll look back and regret."
The Lumberjacks hit .226 in the match and matched the Big Sky's top blocking team in the column with each team recording 10.0 blocks. The Bobcats hit .180 and only had one more ace (7-6) and three more digs (78-75) than the Lumberjacks.
As close as the match was, it came down to a small 3-0 Montana State run in the fifth set, that snapped the 25th and final tie of the match. The three-point spurt broke a 9-9 tie in the decisive game, and NAU could only manage two more points the rest of the match.
NAU led just once in the fifth set at 3-2 following a combo block by sophomore
Jordan Elder and senior
Ryann Davis. Montana State scored the next three points, but NAU managed to tie it again at 5-5. The Bobcats twice moved ahead by a pair of points before the 'Jacks evened it one final time at 9-9 prior to Montana State's match-clinching run.
Davis and Elder were the Lumberjacks' most effective hitters with Davis totaling a season-high 13 kills on .290 hitting and Elder totaling eight kills while hitting .583. For the former, it was her highest kill output since Oct. 31, 2019. Elder also had her hand in seven of NAU's 10 blocks, as she matched a season-best.
After Montana State clinched the opening set with a closing 8-2 run, NAU dug deep to even the match at 1-1. With nearly team leading by more than three points, NAU fought through 12 ties and five lead changes, to claim the second set. After Montana State scored two straight to tie the score at 23-23, NAU's timeout led to a Bobcat service error, which preceded an ace by redshirt junior
Morgan Gappmayer on set point.
The Bobcats led wire-to-wire in the third set, scoring the first four points and never trailing. Although the Lumberjacks climbed back within 7-5, a 5-0 Bobcat run extended the visitor's advantage out to 14-6. Montana State had its offensive set in the third, hitting .289 in taking a 2-1 match lead.
As lopsided as the third set was, the fourth set was even greater in the Lumberjacks' favor as they likewise went wire-to-wire and ultimately forcing a fifth game. Davis and junior
Neche Newton combined each totaled two kills in a set-opening 7-2 run and junior
Taylor Jacobsen later chipped in three aces during a 6-0 surge. The latter run pushed the Lumberjacks' lead to 19-7 in a landslide victory.
Unfortunately, the momentum stopped there as the Bobcats moved into sole possession of fourth place in the conference standings with the victory.
Gappmayer tied Davis for team-high honors with 13 kills, while also setting a new career-high with 19 digs. She was one of three Lumberjacks with double-doubles along with Jacobsen (10 kills, 16 digs) and Bandfield (career-high 33 assists, season-high tying 12 digs).
NAU will look to close out its homestand with a win on Saturday when the Lumberjacks host Montana in Rolle at 1 p.m.
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Gallery: (10-21-2021) NAU vs. Montana State - 10/21/21
