FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 4, 2021) – After Southern Utah avoided the sweep on Thursday, the Northern Arizona volleyball team put away the Thunderbirds emphatically in the most decisive set of the night. The end result was a 25-19, 25-21, 23-25, 25-15 victory for the Lumberjacks to open their final homestand of the season in the Rolle Activity Center.
"You can look at it two ways. We didn't play great volleyball for the first three sets, but you can also look at it as we were able to make a change and play much better volleyball in the fourth set," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "We did the things we were capable of. As a coach, you look back and say that you wish we played the whole match like that, but it's important for us to learn to play that way after dropping a set and turn it back on."
The Lumberjacks, who remained unbeaten versus the Thunderbirds in the Rolle Activity Center moving to 18-0 all-time, received a season-high 19 kills from junior
Taylor Jacobsen among three players in double-figure kills. Jacobsen, who hit .300 on the night, was at her best in the final game recording six kills on nine swings without an error.
NAU (10-12, 8-5 Big Sky) hit .231 and enjoyed productive offensive balance with senior
Aubrea Bandfield distributing the ball to all five hitters, who each recorded at least seven kills. Bandfield set a new career-high with 45 assists and in particular fed the ball to the Lumberjack middles, who responded with huge nights.
"Jordan (Elder) and Neche (Newton) had really strong matches tonight," Murphy said. "I thought Jordan hit some high balls over the top and Neche was fast in the gaps. That was a good dimension for us. We've been working on that all season and it was good to see that happen on a night like this."
Sophomore
Jordan Elder matches a career-high with 10 kills on .471 hitting – in addition to recording a team-high five blocks – while Newton set a new career-high herself with nine kills on .538 hitting.
The first three sets of the night were contested as close as it could be with a combined 37 ties and 25 lead changes. Southern Utah displayed every intention to play spoiler, but it was NAU who withstood the challenge and claimed the first two sets.
After the lead exchanged hands seven times through a 14-14 tie, the Lumberjacks finally broke through with a 6-0 run started by a Newton kill. Jacobsen followed with her first of two aces and senior
Ryann Davis posted three kills as NAU opened up a 20-14 lead on its way to a first set win.
The second set was a slugfest as well with the teams locking up all the way to 18-18, the 16th tie of the stanza. But once again, NAU found the separation it needed with a 5-0 run with two kills from Jacobsen and punctuated by an ace by junior
Jasmine West at 23-18. Although Southern Utah scored on back-to-back points to slide within 23-20, Newton put down NAU's final two points on kills as she went into the third set with seven kills on seven attempts hitting a perfect 1.000.
Southern Utah finally reaped the benefits of its play in the third set, holding NAU to .109 hitting to avoid the sweep. Battling back from an initial 6-2 deficit, the Thunderbirds answered every Lumberjack run with a run of their own, the last in which clinched the set.
Consecutive kills by Davis and redshirt junior
Morgan Gappmayer put NAU within two points of the sweep at 23-22, but Southern Utah closed with three straight points to edge out the set.
The set loss lit a fire in NAU and the Lumberjacks blasted the Thunderbirds to complete the win, keeping the Lumberjacks in pace with Sacramento State and Montana State as each team posted victories on Thursday maintaining the three-way tie for fourth in the league.
NAU raced out to a 5-1 advantage, fueled by three Southern Utah attack errors, and the 'Jacks made sure there would be no drama with Jacobsen providing the finishing thunder.
Davis was the third Lumberjack with double-figure kills, hitting .321 and notching 11 kills. She also posted a team-high, and career-best, 14 digs as NAU narrowly edged Southern Utah in the column, 56-54. Davis, who logged her first double-double in over two years, was one of three Lumberjacks with at least 12 digs as Bandfield tied a season-high with a dozen in her fifth double-double of the season.
Sophomore
Millie O'Ketter also recorded 12 digs as part of an overall defensive effort that kept the Thunderbirds grounded with a .102 hitting percentage.
The win sets up a massive Senior Night battle with Sacramento State Saturday night in Rolle. After NAU honors Davis, Bandfield and
Mara Abernethy prior to the 6 p.m. match, the Lumberjacks will host the Hornets, riding a six-match win streak, with each team holding identical 8-5 conference records.
All fans will receive free admission by showing a mobile ticket to the NAU football game earlier on Saturday in the Walkup Skydome.
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