FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 26, 2021) – The Northern Arizona volleyball team, after a one-week hiatus, hosts Southern Utah on Sunday at 2 p.m. and Monday at 6 p.m. in its return to the court. Both matches versus the Thunderbirds will stream on Pluto TV Channel 1058.
The Lumberjacks had their weekend road trip to Idaho last week canceled due to COVID-19 protocols within the NAU program. After the cancelation, NAU will now play two consecutive weekends in the Rolle Activity Center, beginning with the Southern Utah series, with three weeks remaining in the regular season.
Two weeks ago, NAU defeated Eastern Washington twice on Feb. 14 and 15 at home to improve to 6-2 on the season. Going into the weekend, NAU is tied for second in the conference with Montana State behind undefeated Weber State, whom the Lumberjacks will host in Flagstaff next weekend. Northern Colorado, who is currently 7-3 and resides in fourth, is NAU's final opponent of the regular season.
Sophomore
Taylor Jacobsen continues to lead the Lumberjacks in kills with 4.13 per set after totaling 29 kills between the two matches versus Eastern Washington. Hitting .319 for the season, Jacobsen has posted seven double-digit kill matches through the first half of the spring 2021 season and also leads the team with five double-doubles.
The second-year Lumberjack has been complemented offensively by senior
Heaven Harris, who needs just four kills to reach 1,000 for her career. Harris is second on the team behind Jacobsen with 2.65 kills per set, while freshman
Lyla Hollis and junior
Ryann Davis are third and fourth respectively with 1.84 and 1.74 per set.
While NAU ranks second in the conference in hitting at .228 and third in kills with 12.04 per set, the Lumberjacks' blocking saw an uptick two weeks ago averaging 2.14 per set in their weekend sweep of the Eagles. Freshman
Savannah Bloom tallied an NAU high seven blocks in the second match on Feb. 15 and leads the team with 0.89 blocks per set. Sophomore
Neche Newton has totaled a team-best 26 blocks this season and is the only player to log a block in each of the eight matches so far.
At the service line, the Lumberjacks rank 28th nationally with 1.97 aces per set and 45th with 61 total aces. Hollis ranks seventh in the Big Sky with 0.39 aces per set.
The Lumberjacks have won 12 straight matches versus the Thunderbirds over the last six seasons. During this stretch, NAU has recorded eight sweeps, including three-set victories in five of six matches in Rolle. All-time, NAU has won 25 of 30 matches and is undefeated at home versus Southern Utah in 15 meetings.
Southern Utah notched a couple of wins last weekend at home versus Portland State, dispatching the Vikings in four sets on Sunday before rolling to a three-set sweep on Monday. The two victories over Portland State evened the Thunderbirds' Big Sky record to 4-4, as Southern Utah is 4-5 overall with a non-conference loss to Dixie State also on the team's spring ledger.
Stacey Hone is averaging a team-high 2.64 kills per set in addition to leading the team with 0.79 blocks per set. Raegen Ashby has been one of the conference's top hitters, attacking at a .331 clip to rank her fourth in the Big Sky. Ashby is third on the team with 2.00 kills per set. Corrin Peterson runs the Thunderbird offense and is third in the league with 9.29 assists per set. Defensively, Peterson is averaging 2.14 digs per set.
Southern Utah is only hitting .172 as a team and is averaging 10.97 kills per set, both of which rank 10th in the conference, but the Thunderbirds serve tough averaging the third-most aces per set in the Big Sky at 1.94. Last weekend, Southern Utah tallied 20 combined aces in its two wins.
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