FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (October 5, 2021) – The Northern Arizona volleyball team concludes their two-week road swing with matches at Sacramento State on Thursday and Portland State on Saturday. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+ starting at 7 p.m. MST.
Coming off their first Big Sky loss of the season, the Lumberjacks (5-8 overall, 3-1 Big Sky) sit a game behind 4-0 Weber State and Northern Colorado through the first two weeks of conference play. After this week's trip to Sacramento State and Portland State, NAU will play its next four matches at home.
"This is always a tough trip," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "Portland State is playing as well as they've played since I've been here. They had a great weekend last week with a couple of sweeps. Sacramento State is always tough, especially at home. They're well-coached and they're a balanced team who is tough to beat in their gym. It's going to be two tough challenges."
Even with their loss last Saturday to Northern Colorado, the Lumberjacks have won four of their last six matches after starting the season 1-6. Over the last three weeks, NAU has gotten it done both offensively and defensively hitting .257 and holding opponents to a .168 attack percentage.
While NAU's offense has picked up over the last couple of weeks, the Lumberjacks have found the most success when their defense has been on point. The proof is in the stats where the 'Jacks are 5-0 when they outhit their opponent and 0-8 when they don't. NAU is also 5-1 when its opponent hits under .200 and winless in six matches otherwise. In conference play so far, the 'Jacks rank second in opponent hitting percentage (.130) and third in blocks per set (2.58).
A pair of Lumberjack sophomores have played big roles in NAU's defensive improvement in conference play, as sophomore
Jordan Elder ranks third in the conference with 1.42 blocks per set and sophomore
Millie O'Ketter is fifth with 4.33 digs per set. For the season, Elder and O'Ketter lead the Lumberjacks in those categories at 0.98 and 3.44 respectively.
"Part of our development as a team is understanding how important it is for our identity that we go into each match looking to establish the defensive side of our game," Murphy said. "We had a little bit of a letdown in our last match, but before that I felt like we were gaining a lot of confidence in that. I'm looking forward to this weekend and seeing our team get back to that style. Both of these matches are within our grasps if we play the way we want to on defense."
Offensively, junior
Taylor Jacobsen crossed the 700-career kill mark last week and ranks second in the Big Sky in kills both overall (3.67) and in conference only (4.25). Last season, Jacobsen had her way with Sacramento State specifically, totaling 42 kills and hitting .400 in the two matches versus the Hornets in the spring. After that first weekend of the spring season, Jacobsen earned Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week honors.
NAU's road trip this week will consist of two places where the Lumberjacks have had completely different results. NAU has dropped eight straight matches to the Hornets in Sacramento. On the flip side, the 'Jacks have won seven of their last eight versus the Vikings in Portland.
Sacramento State rallied back from a 2-0 deficit and pulled off the reverse sweep last Saturday at Idaho to complete an unbeaten road trip. The Hornets swept Eastern Washington last Thursday prior to their 3-2 victory over the Vandals to even their Big Sky record to 2-2. The Hornets are 7-7 overall and are led offensively by Bridgette Smith's 3.02 kills per set. Sacramento State leads the Big Sky in blocks per set (2.41) in large part because of the play of Tiyanane Kamba-Griffin, who ranks second in the league individually at 1.15 blocks per set.
Portland State posted a pair of sweeps on the road at Idaho and Eastern Washington last weekend and have won three straight Big Sky matches since dropping its opener at Weber State on Sept. 23. The Vikings (9-6 overall, 3-1 Big Sky) have won six of their last seven matches. Parker Webb and Makayla Lewis form one of the Big Sky's most potent offensive duos. Parker Webb ranks fourth in the conference with 3.49 kills per set and fifth in hitting at .291. Meanwhile in conference play, Lewis ranks fourth in the league with 4.21 kills per set through four Big Sky matches.
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