FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 4, 2021) – For the second consecutive week, the Northern Arizona volleyball team heads out on the road for a challenging pair of matches against Montana State. The Lumberjacks and Bobcats get the weekend started on Saturday at 5 p.m. and conclude their series on Sunday at 2 p.m. with both matches streamed on Pluto TV Channel 1057.
NAU hopes to find similar success on this road as the Lumberjacks did during an undefeated trip to Portland, Ore. last week. NAU improved to 3-1 this season with a pair of victories against Portland State. NAU is one of three teams who own a 3-1 mark, along with Northern Colorado and Sacramento State, through the first two weeks of the season. Weber State leads the conference at 4-0, while Idaho is also unbeaten in league play at 2-0.
"You can learn from the good and the bad and we had some examples of that last week where we were a little out of control and a little chaotic," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "But we also had some examples where we were under control and you could see our potential. I know this team is going to figure this all out and the more we do, the more success we're going to have. Montana State is going to be a great challenge on the road for us and they had a great first weekend, but most of our focus has to be on what we do."
Meanwhile, Montana State is 1-1 coming off its scheduled bye week. The Bobcats split their season-opening road trip versus Northern Colorado, the defending Big Sky Champions, and enter the week ranked fourth in the country in blocks with a Big Sky leading 3.50 per set.
The Lumberjacks' defense lifted them last week past the Vikings with their attack being held in check at times. Needing five sets to knock off Portland State last Saturday and four sets on Sunday, NAU hit only .199 for the weekend after hitting a combined .286 in its two matches versus Sacramento State the week prior.
NAU did average 17.44 digs per set, extending rallies and forcing Portland State into 40 errors and only a .166 attack clip. Five players – freshmen
Lyla Hollis,
Millie O'Ketter and
Kate Hatch, sophomore
Taylor Jacobsen and junior
Aubrea Bandfield – each recorded double-digit digs in both matches. Hollis leads the team in digs overall with 3.44 per set, which ranks 10th in the conference and second amongst freshmen.
Jacobsen and senior
Heaven Harris paced NAU's offense last week, particularly on Sunday each tallying 19 kills. The 19 kills tied Jacobsen's career-high while it was two shy of Harris' career-best. Jacobsen ranks second in the conference in kills with 4.00 per set and is eighth in hitting at .318. She has registered double-doubles in three of four matches this season.
Harris' 3.13 kills per set places her eighth in the Big Sky entering the weekend, while she also ranks third in hitting percentage at .364. She also begins the weekend just 36 kills shy of 1,000 for her career as she is on the verge of becoming the 15th player in program history to reach the milestone.
The Bobcats, who like NAU fell in the Big Sky semifinals in 2019, swept the defending conference champions in the teams' season opener on Jan. 24. Northern Colorado returned the favor the following day, sweeping Montana State. Led by three players who rank in the top 15 of the country in blocks, Montana State limited Northern Colorado to a combined .190 hitting percentage.
Jourdain Klein and Kaycee O'Dell are tied for seventh nationally with an average of 1.83 blocks per set, while Emma Pence is 14th with 1.67 per game. O'Dell also leads the Big Sky in hitting percentage at .417 and Pence is right behind at .368.
Montana State showcased a balanced attack in its first two matches with four players averaging more than two kills a game and six players posting at least eight total kills during the Bobcats' opening weekend. Hannah Scott leads the team with 2.50 kills per set.
The two teams split the season series last season with each team winning on the opposing's home court in five sets. Montana State's five-set win on Oct. 10, 2019 not only snapped NAU's 13-match home winning streak at the time, but also snapped an eight-match losing streak to the Lumberjacks going back to 2013. The Lumberjacks responded though by spoiling the Bobcats' Senior Night a month later.
NAU leads the all-time series 42-24 and has won four straight against Montana State in Bozeman.
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