FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (March 7, 2021) – It turns out, the Rolle Activity Center is developing a reputation as a place where undefeated records become defeated. Taking on previously unbeaten Weber State, the Northern Arizona volleyball team shrugged off a lopsided second set to hand the Wildcats their first loss of the season, 25-20, 14-25, 25-18, 25-20, on Sunday.
The Lumberjacks won their fifth consecutive match to move to 9-2, while they snapped the Wildcats' best start in program history in convincing fashion. Weber State dropped its first match of the season, falling to 10-1.
"In some ways, you don't want that second set to happen, but it gives you a teaching point," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "It should give us some confidence that if you drop a set like that – as lopsided as that one was clearly – and then come back in the next one and be competitive again, it shows the growth in our team."
Sunday was the fifth occurrence since Murphy's first season in 2013 where a Big Sky opponent entered Rolle with a league record of 7-0, only to leave undefeated no more. The Lumberjacks previously dealt North Dakota (9-0 in 2013), Idaho State (7-0 in 2015), Sacramento State (10-0 in 2017) and Northern Colorado (8-0 in 2019) their first defeats of the season.
NAU knocked the final unbeaten team off the rank with a well-distributed attack by junior
Aubrea Bandfield (21 assists) and freshman
Kate Hatch (18 assists) and a stifling defense. The Lumberjacks hit .229 and held the Wildcats – the Big Sky's second-most efficient offensive squad – to a .140 clip, including a sub-.100 percentage in their three set wins.
Sophomore
Taylor Jacobsen led a balanced Lumberjack attack with 14 kills, and logged her seventh double-double of the season with 14 digs. A total of five 'Jacks had seven or more kills, including sophomore
Neche Newton who tallied a career-high seven in addition to being one of three players with a team-best three blocks.
"We passed the ball really well today," Murphy said. "Weber is if not the best serving team in the conference, they are among them, and we received serve really well to give our setters an opportunity to move the ball around. Our setters did a really good job of that and we got a few more balls to our middles, which we've been working on in practice to diversify our offense. We're at our best when we have a little bit of balance."
The first set was indicative of the showdown between the top two teams in the conference, statistically, with 10 ties and five lead changes. The teams traded 4-0 runs with the latter giving NAU a lead for good at 14-12 on a kill by Newton. NAU led the rest of the game and held off Weber State, who climbed within a point on three occasions.
Newton ended the set with a solo block putting a cap on a game in which Weber State hit only .093. On the other side, all six of NAU's hitters had multiple kills in a .351 hitting performance while freshman
Millie O'Ketter registered nine of her match-high 23 digs.
As effective as NAU was in the first set, Weber State was equally that and more in evening the match in the second game. The Wildcats raced out to an 8-3 lead and never let up as they recorded kills on 18 of their 25 points and hit .385 in the stanza. Meanwhile, the Lumberjacks struggled to put away the ball, limited to just a .088 clip.
In the all-important third set, the Lumberjacks found a groove at the service line and took the Wildcats out of their systems as the Weber State recorded 10 kills to nine errors. An ace by Bandfield, sandwiched between two Wildcat errors, was pivotal in a brief 3-0 spurt that put the 'Jacks in front for good, 10-8.
A 7-1 run later in the game, fueled by kills from four different Lumberjacks, put the set out of reach pushing NAU's lead out to 21-14. Freshman
Jordan Elder's first career ace was the set-clincher, giving NAU the 2-1 match lead.
Jacobsen, senior
Heaven Harris and freshman
Lyla Hollis each had two kills during an 8-3 fourth set-opening run that put NAU's match-clinching game into motion. A block by junior
Ryann Davis and Newton – one of five by NAU in the final game – put the Lumberjacks' advantage at 17-9 and their lead sat at 23-15 late before the Wildcats made one final push.
Weber State scored four straight to close to 23-19, prompting an NAU timeout. Out of the stoppage, a Davis kill halted the Weber State run and put NAU at match point. After a service error, the Lumberjacks wrapped up the victory with a rocket by Jacobsen.
In addition to the Lumberjacks' five blocks in the fourth set, NAU also doubled up Weber State in kills, 16-8.
"We're going to enjoy this for a minute, but Weber is going to be better tomorrow," Murphy said. "The reason they are as good as they are is that they are so consistent and so steady. We lost our focus for a minute today and they drilled us in the second set. We have to be ready tomorrow knowing that we're going to face a better Weber team and we have a ton of respect for their players and coaches."
NAU will look to complete the series sweep against first-place Weber State Monday night in its final match in Rolle this spring at 6 p.m.
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