SACRAMENTO, Calif. (October 7, 2021) – Redshirt junior
Morgan Gappmayer's cut shot found the floor, and just like that, the Northern Arizona volleyball team's 10-year nightmare in The Nest came to an end. The Lumberjacks snapped an eight-match losing streak to the Hornets on their home floor Thursday night in sweeping fashion, 25-20, 26-24, 25-15 behind an exceptional defensive effort.
Holding the Hornets a .100 hitting percentage, the Lumberjacks got back into the win column, moving to 4-1 in conference play and 6-8 overall. NAU was just the second Big Sky team to sweep Sacramento State in The Nest over the last six-plus seasons.
"We were in control of the whole match and that was the big difference," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "Even in the second set when it was close, our defense was locked in. Offensively, I especially liked that we got our rights and middles the ball a little more and they converted some big points for us, but mainly I really liked the way we played defense tonight and put pressure on them from start to finish."
Prior to tonight, NAU had not defeated Sacramento State in The Nest since a five-set win in 2011. In fact, Thursday's victory was just the Lumberjacks' second all-time win in Sacramento over the Hornets in 27 meetings.
To vanquish the horrors of The Nest, NAU relied on a locked-in defense that put an exclamation point on the night by allowing just five Sacramento State kills in the final set. Behind a season-high 18 digs from sophomore
Millie O'Ketter, NAU outdug Sacramento State, 54-46, and held a 10.0-6.0 block advantage.
Junior
Taylor Jacobsen, who led the 'Jacks with nine kills, had the hot hand in the opening set, putting down five kills and adding two aces. A 4-0 run gave NAU the lead for good in the first set at 8-6, although it was a late four-point spurt that put away the Hornets.
With Sacramento State hanging around at 20-18, NAU reached set point with four consecutive points – two coming on Jacobsen aces. After the Hornets held off two set points, senior
Ryann Davis clinched the first set with a kill.
The Hornets were poised to even the match in the second set, but the evening's tightest set wound up in the Lumberjacks' favor. Featuring 10 ties and four lead changes, both teams ramped up their offensive output with NAU hitting .275 and Sacramento State hitting .263 in the stanza.
Sophomore
Kate Hatch's third ace of the set put a bow tie on a 4-0 NAU surge that moved the 'Jacks in front 21-19, only for Sacramento State to tie it at 22-22. Freshman
Sophia Wadsworth split the Hornet block to give NAU the first set point at 24-23, but Sacramento State pulled even on an NAU service error. Jacobsen sided out on a kill on the ensuing serve and sophomore
Savannah Bloom sent the second set point to the floor.
Having snatched any potential Sacramento State momentum, NAU ran away with the third set from the opening serve. Bloom and Jacobsen turned back the Hornets' initial swing, putting into motion a 9-0 game-opening run. Jacobsen logged three aces in the run, increasing her match total to a career-high five.
NAU was never threatened in completing the sweep easily. Davis and Gappmayer both totaled four kills in the third set and sophomore
Jordan Elder had a hand in four of the Lumberjacks' five team blocks.
"In the second set, Sacramento State hit a little bit of a higher number and I thought we let some things get away from us," Murphy said. "For us to pull that set out was really important, and heading into the third, you could see that our team was determined to play a little better on our side of net and get back to the things we did well in the first set. They went out and did that from start to finish."
The Lumberjacks' service pressure not resulted in a season-high tying nine aces, but also forced the Hornets out of system frequently, that led to NAU feasting at the net. Elder and Bloom both notched four blocks with Jacobsen and Davis recording three each.
NAU will travel to Portland State next for a 7 p.m. match in Viking Pavilion on Saturday.
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