FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 2, 2021) – For the final time this season, the Northern Arizona volleyball team will play in front of their home fans in the Rolle Activity Center this week starting with a Thursday night match against Southern Utah at 6:30 p.m. The Lumberjacks' Senior Night for
Ryann Davis,
Aubrea Bandfield and
Mara Abernethy will close out the home schedule on Saturday at 6 p.m. versus Sacramento State. NAU's last home matches will be available on ESPN+ with live stats at
nauathletics.com/livestats.
The Lumberjacks are 6-4 at home this season, and have enjoyed a lot of success against both the Thunderbirds and Hornets in the Rolle Activity Center. NAU is unbeaten versus Southern Utah at home all-time, winning all 17 meetings, including twice in the spring. In fact, five of the last six matches have ended in Lumberjack sweeps. Although the Hornets won the most recent meeting between the two teams in Rolle in the spring, the 'Jacks have 12 of the last 13 matchups at home.
With two weeks left in the regular season, NAU is locked into a three-way tie for fourth in the conference with Sacramento State and Montana State. All three teams currently sport 7-5 Big Sky records. The Lumberjacks bounced back from a four-set loss to Eastern Washington last Thursday to salvage a split of their road trip by sweeping Idaho on Saturday to move to 9-12 overall.
"Our team still feels like we're missing out on opportunities to really establish ourselves at a higher level in this conference, but that we're not that far away," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "This weekend is a chance for us to keep moving forward. We're changing some things in our lineup right now to see if we can get a little more balance in our offense and our defense. We're excited to keep getting better."
The win in Moscow on Saturday secured NAU's spot in the conference tournament, set for two weeks in Ogden, Utah. The 'Jacks are one of six teams to already clinch a tournament berth and are headed to the conference tournament for the 10th consecutive year.
This weekend's home matches will be the final two in the careers of Davis, Bandfield and Abernethy. Davis and Bandfield are both in their fourth seasons as Lumberjacks and were integral members of the 2018 Big Sky Championship season as true freshmen. Meanwhile, Abernethy is in her second season in Flagstaff after transferring from Denver.
Bandfield and Davis both stepped into critical roles their first season and have compiled a long list of achievements. Bandfield ranks 10th all-time with 1,895 career assists and is two aces away from moving into a tie for 10th in that category. Davis – the 2018 Big Sky Outstanding Freshman – has totaled 728 kills and 219 blocks in her career. Both players competed in their 100th career matches last Thursday in Cheney versus Eastern Washington.
While sitting in that tie for fourth in the standings, the Lumberjacks have been efficient offensively, leading the Big Sky in both overall hitting percentage (.223) and in league matches (.243). Offensively, the outside hitter duo of junior
Taylor Jacobsen and redshirt junior
Morgan Gappmayer combined for 30 kills last Saturday versus Idaho. Jacobsen leads the team with 3.45 kills per set, putting her second in the conference. Gappmayer is averaging 2.21 kills per set for the season, including 3.36 per set over the last seven matches.
Southern Utah has dropped four consecutive matches since picking up a three-set sweep over Idaho State on Oct. 16. Since then, the Thunderbirds have been swept in each of their last four matches including road matches at Idaho and Eastern Washington last week. The Thunderbirds, now 6-18 overall and 2-10 in Big Sky play, are led by Raegen Ashby, who ranks eighth in the league in hitting percentage (.305) and sixth in blocks per set (1.11) in conference matches. Stacey Hone paces the team in kills at 2.11 per set overall this season.
Sacramento State, without a doubt, is the hottest team in the conference having won its last five matches heading into the week. The Hornets (13-10, 7-5 Big Sky) have not dropped a set during their current win streak, which includes sweeps over the Big Sky's top three teams (Portland State, Northern Colorado and Weber State). Bridgette Smith has been doing carrying the offensive load, averaging a league-best 3.69 kills per set in conference play. Meanwhile, Cianna Andrews leads the conference in hitting percentage (.385) and is second in blocks (1.36 per set) in Big Sky action.
To stay up to date with the NAU volleyball team, follow the Lumberjacks on
Twitter and
Instagram.
NAU Volleyball 2021 Senior Class:
Mara Abernethy (Colorado Springs, Colo./Coronado HS/Denver)
"Mara is a great person and a really good player. She is one of those players who fans don't notice as much as our team does. Our team understands how valuable she is to us and how much she inspires her teammates around her to play well. She works hard in practice and she provides so much insight into our success. She always has really good comments before matches and during team meetings and she always has something positive to contribute." - Head Coach
Ken Murphy
Aubrea Bandfield (Temecula, Calif./Greak Oak HS)
"Aubrea is easily, over the last four years, the most consistent player in our program. She comes to practice every day ready to play. She doesn't really have bad days. That is such a luxury for us to know we have a player like that on our roster who is always ready to do her job and contribute to the team. She has provided so much to the success of this team over the last four years. She's quieter out there, but she has been an integral part to this team especially as we've continued to grow this year." - Murphy
Ryann Davis (Chandler, Ariz./Perry HS)
"Ryann came in here as a really good volleyball player and she has only gotten better during her time here. She has always worked on being a little more efficient offensively, and a little more consistent in providing kills for our team, and this year she has really focused on that and taken on a role, not only leadership as a senior but leadership in terms of understanding how important it is for her to make an impact on the match with the points she can score. It's been such a big boost for us and we're happy for her to finish her career at such a high level." - Murphy
