FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 12, 2021) – The Northern Arizona volleyball team hosts Eastern Washington this weekend at 2 p.m. on Sunday and 6 p.m. on Monday in their second homestand of the season in Rolle Activity Center. Both matches will be streamed on Pluto TV Channel 1058.
The Lumberjacks return home after consecutive weeks on the road at Portland State and Montana State. Compiling a near-perfect 3-1 stretch through Portland and Bozeman, NAU heads into the fourth weekend of the spring season with a 4-2 record. NAU is currently fourth in the Big Sky behind Weber State (4-0), Northern Colorado (5-1) and Idaho (3-1).
The Lumberjacks will play all three of the teams currently ahead of them in the stands during the second half of the season starting with the Vandals next week. This weekend's homestand versus Eastern Washington, who heads to Flagstaff on a two-match winning streak, marks the spring's halfway point.
Last week, NAU split its two matches against Montana State. The Lumberjacks, led by a career-high 26 kills by
Taylor Jacobsen, defeated the Bobcats last Saturday in five sets before the Bobcats returned the favor and swept the 'Jacks on Sunday. Jacobsen's 26 kills were the most by a Lumberjack in a match since Kaylie Jorgenson totaled 26 kills in a five-set win over Sacramento State on Oct. 26, 2017.
Jacobsen leads the Lumberjacks, and ranks second in the Big Sky, in kills at 4.13 per set. She has registered double-digit kills in five of six matches this season and is also hitting .310 on the season.
Senior
Heaven Harris, second on the team with 2.75 kills per set, is approaching the 1,000 kill mark for her career. She is 20 kills shy of becoming the 15th player in program history to join the 1,000 kill club. Freshman
Lyla Hollis and junior
Ryann Davis are third and fourth on the team in kills with 1.79 and 1.63 kills per set. Davis is coming off her best weekend of the season so far, hitting .370 and averaging 2.38 kills per set versus Montana State.
Looking at the Big Sky rankings, freshman
Millie O'Ketter ranks ninth in the league in digs (3.13), while junior
Aubrea Bandfield ranks 10th in assists (5.42).
While NAU's record in Rolle since 2013 is an outstanding 71-14, Eastern Washington has not been a frequent visitor to Flagstaff in that span. In the last seven years, the Lumberjacks and Eagles have only squared off four times in Rolle as a result of Big Sky scheduling. NAU has won three of those four matchups including last season's 3-0 sweep in 2019.
The Lumberjacks have won seven of the last nine meetings overall to close the all-time gap on the Eagles, who lead the all-time series, 37-31.
Eastern Washington emerged victorious against Portland State twice last weekend with both victories on its home court in five sets. The Eagles, who are 3-4 overall and 2-4 in conference play, have played three straight five-set matches, including a narrow five-set loss to the defending conference champions Northern Colorado the week prior.
Offensively, Sage Brustad is the Eagles' leader with 2.56 kills per set and a team-high 10 service aces. Lindsey Russell ranks sixth in the conference in assists with 8.32 per set, while also averaging 2.56 digs per set. Catelyn Linke, the reigning Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week, has been one of the Big Sky's top defenders this spring ranking second in the league with 4.43 digs per set.
Eastern Washington ranks eighth in the conference in hitting at .175 and sixth in the league in opponent hitting percentage at .187. The Eagles also average the fewest blocks per game in the conference with 1.47.
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