BOZEMAN, Mont. (February 7, 2021) – Less than 24 hours after a grueling five-set match, Montana State made quick work of the Northern Arizona volleyball team on Sunday, sweeping the Lumberjacks, 25-20, 25-19, 25-13 in Shroyer Gym. The Lumberjacks' three-game winning streak came to an end and NAU will take a 4-2 record into next weekend's homestand.
"Montana State played great and the things we tried to do to pressure them, they responded to it really well," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "We started to panic a little more than we wanted to and forced some errors that we wouldn't normally. There are a ton of things we can learn and we know Montana State is going to be a team who will compete for a championship like us. I give credit to them."
Offensively, the Lumberjacks hit a season-low .143 and were also limited to a single ace at the service line for the first time since Sept. 8, 2018. On the flip side, the Bobcats (2-2) attacked at a high efficiency hitting .254 and holding the digs advantage, 56-47. Both teams record 7.0 team blocks in the match.
Despite their struggles, the 'Jacks managed to carry their momentum from Saturday night's victory into Sunday by scoring four of the first five points – three coming off kills by junior
Ryann Davis. The Bobcats settled in though, and eventually forced a Lumberjack timeout with a 14-11 lead.
NAU came out of the stoppage with a 3-0 run to tie the game, only for Montana State to get those three points back. The Bobcats never trailed again and closed the first set strong with a 5-2 run after the Lumberjacks closed within 20-18.
Three consecutive NAU points gave the Lumberjacks a 9-7 second set edge, only for the Bobcats to score six of the next seven points. The Montana State advantage grew to 18-13 before NAU strung together its best stretch of the match led by freshman
Lyla Hollis.
Hollis opened a 5-1 run with a kill and added another before forcing a Montana State timeout with an ace with NAU pulling to 19-18. However, the timeout served the Bobcats well as, like the first set, they finished with a flurry on a 6-1 run to claim the second stanza.
Sophomore
Taylor Jacobsen, who was coming off a career-high 26-kill effort, tried to jump start NAU's offense to begin the third set with a pair of kills. The Lumberjacks' brief 2-1 lead was quickly flipped though by four consecutive Bobcat points and Montana State took that lead through match point.
Trailing at 9-4, NAU got within one on two occasions at 9-8 and 10-9 following kills by Hollis, but the 'Jacks could not extend the match as the Bobcats used three separate 4-0 runs the rest of the way to secure the sweep – and the weekend split between the two 2019 Big Sky semifinalists.
Four of Jacobsen's team-leading nine kills came in the third set, but the Lumberjacks' leading hitter was under 10 kills for the first time this spring. Davis was next on the team with eight kills and was the only NAU hitter to attack above .300 at .333. No other player had more than four kills.
Freshman
Kate Hatch posted her third double-digit dig match of the season with a team-high 14, but was the only Lumberjack in double-figures. Sophomore
Neche Newton and freshman
Savannah Bloom tied for team-high honors with three blocks, as NAU matched Montana State – the Big Sky's second-leading team in terms of blocks – in the stat column.
"Today wasn't our day and we know we can play better, but we're excited about the progress we're making overall," Murphy said. "Ryann had a great weekend and getting her back in the mix offensively will be huge for us. There were bright spots in all of this and we're excited to play at home next weekend."
After two straight weeks on the road, NAU returns home to the Rolle Activity Center next weekend and hosts Eastern Washington on Feb. 14 at 2 p.m. and Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. The weekend will mark the halfway point of the spring season.
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