GREELEY, Colo. (April 1, 2021) – The Northern Arizona volleyball team landed the first blow in their semifinal matchup against No. 1 seed Weber State, but the regular season champions ultimately registered the knockout with a 23-25, 25-14, 25-12, 25-17 victory on Thursday in Bank of Colorado Arena.
NAU concludes the unique spring season with a 10-6 record, while Weber State advances to Friday's championship match with a 17-1 mark.
"I've been saying for a long time, I really love this team and I believe in our potential," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "What I've learned through this season is that there is a reason for that. They are great kids, they work hard and they are intent on being successful. We grew so much through this season and I couldn't have asked for more from them. I know we'll continue grow this summer into next year and the things we didn't accomplish this year, we have 13 players who are really determined to make it happen next year."
The Lumberjacks, who were responsible for the Wildcats' only loss this spring, seemed intent on stopping the tournament favorite dead in their tracks from the opening serve.
With five lead changes and nine ties, the first set was a battle with the teams trading runs throughout. The Lumberjacks led by as much as four at 16-12 before the Wildcats tied it at 16-16 and ultimately snagged a 21-19 lead, which prompted an NAU timeout.
Junior
Ryann Davis came out of the stoppage with a kill, which immediately preceded two combo blocks by freshman
Jordan Elder – one each with sophomore
Taylor Jacobsen and Davis. Another Weber State error gave NAU a 23-21 lead which the 'Jacks would not surrender as Jacobsen concluded the first game with two kills.
"We had to sustain a high level throughout that first set and I was proud of the fact that we were able to not only sustain it, but get to the end and make plays that mattered toward the outcome," Murphy said. "We were aggressive and we were confident."
What followed was a veteran Wildcat squad flexing their muscle to avoid the semifinal upset.
After hitting .316 in the first set, NAU was held in check in the second at a .079 clip as a lengthy Weber State game-opening run was all the Wildcats needed to square up the match. Weber State scored the first five points and never trailed with NAU only able to climb within four on a number of occasions – the last coming at 17-13 on a kill by senior
Heaven Harris before Weber State finished on an 8-1 run.
Likewise, the Wildcats went wire-to-wire in the third and fourth games to seal up the victory. After a lopsided third set, the fourth set appeared to be headed in that direction as well before the Lumberjacks made one final push.
Trailing 12-4, NAU closed to 13-9 and later 15-12 following a Jacobsen kill. Three straight Weber State points doubled its advantage, but once again NAU closed the gap with a 3-0 spurt on a kill by freshman
Kate Hatch and two by freshman
Lyla Hollis. Hollis' second kill made it a 20-16 score, but Weber State held off NAU with a match-clinching 5-1 run.
"The fourth set was a sign of our growth over the year," Murphy said. "We talked about in the first weekend we had a similar match and we just let it go. Today, we had a similar situation against a really good opponent and we fought back and we regained our composure. We turned that set into a much closer set than it looked like it would be and that was not something we would've been able to do two months ago."
Weber State bottled up NAU offensively after the first set as the Lumberjacks wound up hitting a season-low .082. Jacobsen, who finished with her 10th double-double of the spring, led the team with 14 kills while Hollis added nine.
Jacobsen also registered a team-high 15 digs and was one of three players in double-figures with freshman
Millie O'Ketter (13) and Hollis (11) behind. Elder and Davis anchored the net, each tallying a team-high five blocks.
Weber State hit .257 for the match and held edges in kills (56-40), aces (6-3), digs (82-64) and blocks (9.0-7.0).
Having played a spring season, the 'Jacks will not have to wait long to get back into action and they will have a full squad when they return. A young team that started five freshmen at times this spring are slated to return all 13 players on the roster for what everyone hopes will be a normal fall season in four months.
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