FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (March 8, 2021) – The Northern Arizona volleyball team claimed one match of first-place Weber State, but the Wildcats ensured that they left Flagstaff alone at the top of the Big Sky standings with a 25-17,18-25, 25-20, 30-28 win on Monday. The two conference contenders wound up splitting their weekend series in the Rolle Activity Center as Weber State exits with an 11-1 record, while NAU falls to 9-3.
"Weber is a mature team and they wanted to play better than they did yesterday, and they did tonight," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "There were some stretches where we didn't play with as much confidence as we would like to. We were fighting really hard, but we'd get to the end and not take the swing we wanted to take or serve the way we wanted to and we lost our edge."
An NAU win would have brought the Lumberjacks even with the Wildcats for first place in the conference; instead Weber State withstood five set points to deny NAU an opportunity at a decisive fifth game.
The Lumberjacks snagged leads at 24-23, 25-24, 26-25, 27-26 and lastly 28-27, but each time the Wildcats had the answer. Two final kills after knotting the score up at 28-28 clinched the Wildcat win and snapped the Lumberjacks' five-match winning streak.
NAU outhit Weber State .230 to .222, but the Wildcats held significant advantages in blocks (11.0-5.0) and aces (6-2). NAU also committed seven more service errors than Weber State, including two on potential fourth set clinching points.
Junior
Taylor Jacobsen and senior
Heaven Harris led the Lumberjacks' attack with 18 and 13 kills respectively, while Jacobsen (11 digs) and junior
Aubrea Bandfield (26 assists, 11 digs) posted double-double performances.
Having suffered their first loss of the season Sunday night, Weber State came out with vengeance, scoring the first four points with two coming on blocks. The Wildcats never trailed in a wire-to-wire first set victory, hitting .444 and controlling the tempo of the match.
NAU responded with its own offensive display in the second game, hitting .406 to tie the match at 1-1. Offensively, Harris and Jacobsen combined for nine of the Lumberjacks' 15 kills and defensively, NAU forced nine Weber State attack errors. A 4-0 run, including two kills by Jacobsen, gave the 'Jacks the lead for good at 11-8 and NAU closed the set on a 7-2 run.
Unfortunately, the third and fourth sets played out in the same manner and it was not in the Lumberjacks' favor. NAU held late leads in both games, but the veteran Weber State squad flexed its resolve in denying the Lumberjacks twice.
A 6-2 run featuring NAU's two aces on the night – one each by freshmen
Lyla Hollis and
Jordan Elder – snapped an 8-8 tie and provided the Lumberjacks with a 14-10 lead that stood until 19-17 following a Harris kill. But after a Weber State sideout, the Wildcats ripped off five straight points as part of a larger 8-1 run that put the 'Jacks behind in the match once again.
The Wildcat momentum did not last long as NAU immediately jumped out to a 5-1 fourth set lead. After the Wildcats took a brief 15-14 edge, Harris started a 4-0 NAU spurt that pushed the home team back in front, 18-15. Weber State would later score four straight of its own to retake a 20-19 lead before NAU moved ahead 22-20.
Elder put NAU within two points of the set win at 23-21 with a kill, only for Weber State to tie it at 23-23. There, the see-saw battle ensued as NAU could not close out the game on its five opportunities.
"We're definitely capable of some great things," Murphy said. "Our defense is getting better and our serve receive is getting better and we should have the confidence to execute at the end of sets the way we do at other points of the match. Today that was a little bit of a problem, and if that can change in the next few weeks, I feel really good about our progress."
O'Ketter led four Lumberjacks in double-figure digs with 19 – 11 coming in the final set – as she continued an exceptional stretch. Over her last five matches, O'Ketter is averaging 5.26 digs per set with 19 or more digs in four of them.
NAU will conclude the regular season next week on the road at the defending conference champions, Northern Colorado. It will be the first of two consecutive road trips to Greeley, Colo. as the Lumberjacks will return for the Big Sky Championship beginning March 31 following a bye week.
The Lumberjacks and Bears will get the weekend started on Sunday at 3 p.m.
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