FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (September 14, 2021) – After a challenging first three weeks of the season, the Northern Arizona volleyball team's final week of non-conference play will not get any easier with a pair of matches versus New Mexico, who has won eight of its first nine matches. The home-and-home series between the two teams begins in Flagstaff in the Rolle Activity Center on Thursday at 6 p.m. with the match available on ESPN+ before the teams turn around and play the back half of the series on Saturday in Albuquerque at 1 p.m. MST.
The 'Jacks will aim to head into the start of the Big Sky schedule with momentum as the team continues to get healthier and round into form. NAU (1-6) picked up its first win of the fall last Friday at home in five sets over UC Davis. The Lumberjacks wound up going 1-2 in their home tournament, the Lumberjack Classic, in three highly competitive matches. After the victory versus the Aggies, the Lumberjacks fell in four sets to both Arizona State and Utah Valley.
"The team is very optimistic about what we have going on," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "They see the improvement, and obviously they're frustrated not getting the results that we want yet, but at the same time they recognize not only the places where we've improved, but places where we still need to improve. They know we can get there and one more week of preseason before we get into conference is exactly what we need to keep along the path we've been on."
Sophomore
Lyla Hollis' solid start to the season continued last week as she averaged 4.42 kills per set in three matches. She compiled a pair of 20-kill matches in the process, including setting a new career-high with 22 kills in the win versus UC Davis, and now leads the team – and ranks third in the Big Sky – with 3.37 kills per set.
Hollis and senior
Ryann Davis were named to the Lumberjack Classic All-Tournament Team with the latter hitting .315 across the three matches and putting down 21 kills. Davis, after missing the first two matches of her career to begin the season, is 10th in the Big Sky in hitting overall at a team-high .274.
Junior
Taylor Jacobsen also returned from injury, which forced her to miss her first match of her career on Sept. 3 versus Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, last week. Jacobsen is right behind Hollis in kills, ranking fourth in the league with 3.35 kills per set. Also second on the team in digs behind sophomore
Millie O'Ketter with 2.83 per set, Jacobsen has logged double-doubles in four of six matches she has played this season.
O'Ketter not only leads the team in digs with 84 total and an average of 3.00 per set, she is also tied with Hollis for the team-lead in aces with nine.
NAU's defense limited UC Davis (.184) and Utah Valley (.189) to its two lowest opponent hitting percentages of the season last week. Meanwhile, NAU averaged 12.77 kills per set across the three matches – its highest weekend kill average so far this season – as the Lumberjacks progress from week to week.
New Mexico has been dominant through the first three weeks of the season on its way to an 8-1 record. The Lobos swept through their first seven opponents before finally dropping a set last week to Seattle in what still ended up being a four-set win. New Mexico's eight-match winning streak came to an end in its home tournament finale though as the Lobos were swept by UC San Diego.
New Mexico, statistically, has been the nation's best defensive team in terms of opponent hitting percentage, ranking first in the country with an opponent clip of .070. The Lobos are also eighth in digs per set at 18.32, in large part due to the play of Alena Moldan who is third individually nationally with 6.07 digs per set. Kaitlynn Biassou leads the team in kills at 3.50 per set.
To stay up to date with the NAU volleyball team, follow the Lumberjacks on
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THURSDAY PROMOTIONS
- Thursday – All fans will receive a free #RockTheRolle sticker.
