FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (August 25, 2021) – Just five months after the Northern Arizona volleyball team last took the court in the Big Sky semifinals, the Lumberjacks open the traditional fall season in Baton Rouge, La. on Friday for the three-day Tiger Classic. The Lumberjacks will serve up the 2021 season on Friday at 1 p.m. MST versus Florida State in the first of three matches this weekend versus Power Five Conference teams. NAU will also take on host LSU on Saturday at 3 p.m. MST and Michigan on Sunday at 10 a.m. MST.
Only NAU's Saturday match versus LSU is scheduled for a stream. Fans can catch the match on the SEC Network+ available at this
link (subscription required).
Voted second in the Big Sky Preseason Coaches Poll, the Lumberjacks will be tested from the start this weekend, facing multiple Power Five teams in the opening weekend for the first time since 2003. That season, NAU faced Mississippi State and Oregon State at the Beavers' tournament in Corvallis, Ore.
Still, despite facing a first weekend gauntlet, including two teams (LSU and Michigan) that received votes in the preseason AVCA National Ranking, NAU is unfazed heading into the program's first trip to the state of Louisiana.
"We want to stay within the things that we do well regardless of the pressure that our opponents are putting on us," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "If we can stay in control of our side against this caliber of teams, we're going to feel really good about what we do moving forward into the season. We know that we'll be competitive if we put it together, so we're going to be striving for that. I'll tell you though, our team will be disappointed if we don't come out of this weekend with a win or two. Their expectation is that if we play to our level, we're capable of great things."
The Lumberjacks will see a pair of teams that they saw just two years ago in Michigan and LSU. On the road in the Wolverines' home gym, NAU fell in five sets to then-ranked No. 15 Michigan, and two weeks later, the 'Jacks swept LSU in the Rolle Activity Center. NAU has not faced Florida State since earning a 3-2 neutral site victory at Pepperdine's tournament in 2001.
"We went five with Michigan at their place a couple of years ago, and we got LSU in our gym," Murphy said. "We haven't seen Florida State, but we feel we can hang with these teams. We're never going to set a goal that if we take a set of one of these teams, that's good enough. But we will know that if we go deep into matches with these teams, we'll feel good moving throughout the year."
Murphy, entering his ninth season at the helm at NAU, will lead the Lumberjacks returning 12 players from the roster that compiled a 10-6 overall record during the spring 2021 campaign. NAU went 9-5 in Big Sky action and advanced to the conference semifinals for the third consecutive season.
Led by returning All-Big Sky First Team outside hitter
Taylor Jacobsen, the Lumberjacks picked up a first-place vote and finished second behind defending champion Weber State in the preseason league poll. Jacobsen returns for her third year coming off a spring in which she ranked second in the league, and 72nd in the country, in kills at 3.93 per set. The outside hitter from Chandler, Ariz. recorded double-digit kills in 14 of 16 matches and also led the team with 10 double-doubles last season.
On a roster with seven underclassmen, seniors
Ryann Davis and
Aubrea Bandfield will also provide leadership. Davis and Bandfield, both in their fourth seasons in the program, have combined to play in 163 matches and 623 sets between them. Davis is the Lumberjacks' third-leading returner in kills at 1.62 per set last spring, behind Jacobsen and sophomore
Lyla Hollis (2.10), while Bandfield led the team in assists with 5.28 per set as a junior.
Among the dozen returning players, NAU returns all of its statistical leaders from the spring. In addition to Jacobsen and Bandfield, Hollis led the team with 29 aces and sophomore
Millie O'Ketter paced the team with 4.03 digs per set. Meanwhile, junior
Neche Newton and sophomore
Jordan Elder led the Lumberjacks in total blocks (41) and blocks per set (1.07) respectively.
Florida State finished fifth in the ACC last season, posting a 13-5 overall record and an 8-5 mark in the conference. The Seminoles were voted fifth in the ACC Preseason Coaches Poll this season. Leading the Seminoles into the fall is Emma Clothier, who was named to the Preseason All-ACC Team. Clothier, an All-American last season, ranked second nationally in hitting percentage (.483) and posted averages of 2.70 kills and 1.02 blocks per set.
LSU was slotted in third in the Preseason SEC Coaches Poll after a 9-13 season record in conference, which landed the Tigers in eighth a year ago. Taylor Bannister headlines the returning Tigers after ranking 22nd in the country with 4.38 kills per set and 14th with 5.11 points per set last season. Bannister, an AVCA South All-Region pick in 2020-21, was voted to the Preseason All-SEC team along with Kylie Deberg, a three-time AVCA All-American at Missouri prior to transferring to LSU.
Michigan is coming off a 4-9 season in the spring, which left the Wolverines in ninth in the Big Ten standings. Heading into the fall, Michigan was voted eighth in the preseason Big Ten Coaches Poll. The Wolverines return their two hitters who averaged more than three kills a set last season led by Paige Jones at 3.58 per set. Jess Mruzik earned Big Ten All-Freshman honors after averaging 3.54 kills per set in her debut campaign.
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