NAU Volleyball Posts Season-High 10 Blocks in 3-1 Win Over Eastern Washington

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 15, 2021) – The Northern Arizona volleyball team completed an unbeaten weekend at home with a 25-16, 17-25, 25-17, 25-20 victory over Eastern Washington on Monday, while upping their record to 6-2 in the process at the midway point of the season. The Eagles, meanwhile, dropped to 3-6 overall and 2-6 in conference play.
 
"We can win in different ways," said head coach Ken Murphy. "Last night, our serve receive was so good, we were siding out really well and our offense was on fire. Eastern played better defense tonight and we had to get into a defensive battle, and that still suits us. We want to be the type of team that can win both of those types of matches and gives us confidence coming out of the weekend that we found success in both ways."
 
Unlike Sunday night's clean sweep, the Lumberjacks were locked into a battle for most of Monday's rematch between the two teams. NAU was held to just a .205 hitting percentage with Eastern Washington extending rallies with a 73-63 digs advantage; however, the Lumberjacks totaled a season-best 10.0 blocks to stymie the Eagles enough.
 
Freshman Savannah Bloom found her way into seven of NAU's 10 blocks with her seven stuffs marking a high total by a Lumberjack this season. Senior Heaven Harris and freshman Lyla Hollis also set new season-bests with four and three blocks respectively.
 
The Lumberjacks' efforts at the net yielded an .094 hitting percentage by the Eagles, as NAU notched its fifth consecutive win against Eastern Washington.
 
NAU's offense got rolling from the opening serve with the Lumberjacks utilizing a balanced attack to take the first set. Five players had multiple kills with sophomore Taylor Jacobsen, junior Ryann Davis and sophomore Neche Newton each totaling three apiece.
 
NAU posted its best offensive set of the night in the opener, hitting .333 and capitalizing on eight Eastern Washington attack errors to break free of the Eagles. Leading by just an 11-9 margin, three Eagle errors around an ace by Bloom keyed a 4-0 run that opened up the first game in NAU's favor.
 
After NAU claimed the initial advantage, Eastern Washington evened the match with a second set win in which the Eagles answered with their best offensive set. The Eagles hit .265 in the second game and used an 8-2 run to open up a 17-9 lead. The Lumberjacks, who hit just .057 in the set, was never able to recover as the match wound up tied at 1-1.
 
"We let up a little bit and we needed to get ourselves back together," Murphy said of the second set. "Sometimes in the middle of the match, that's not the easiest thing to do. I was pretty impressed coming out of a set like that with things not going the way you want and have the mentality to shift that going into the third and fourth sets. A few weeks ago, I don't know if we would've made that change so fast and that shows our maturity."
 
Jacobsen, who finished the night with a match-high 16 kills, came up huge in the third set to give the 'Jacks the advantage back. Still, the set hung in the balance halfway through with NAU leading 16-14.
 
Hollis ignited a decisive 6-1 run with a kill, which finally provided the Lumberjacks with the cushion they needed and the freshman capped the game with a combination block with Newton.
 
NAU used that momentum to take an early 7-3 lead in the fourth set, only for Eastern Washington to eventually tie it at 11-11. Davis followed with a kill and a block and Hollis aced the Eagles twice in a quick 4-0 spurt that gave the Lumberjacks the lead for good.
 
Although Eastern Washington managed to get within 19-18, NAU scored five of the next six points – the last coming on an ace by junior Aubrea Bandfield – to reach match point. The Eagles staved off one match point, but Davis tooled the block on the ensuing serve to end the night.
 
Hollis recorded her first career double-digit kill match with 10 and her first double-double adding 11 digs. She was one of four players, led by freshman Millie O'Ketter's season-best 19, to reach double-digit digs.
 
Along with Hollis, Jacobsen (16 kills, season-high 14 digs) and Bandfield (17 assists, 11 digs) also tallied double-digit performances. Freshman Kate Hatch rounded out the team leaders with a match-high 22 assists, one off her season-best.
 
NAU will head back out on the road next week for a pair of matches at Idaho on Sunday and Monday. The first of two matches will be Sunday, Feb. 21 at 3 p.m. MST.
 
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