NAU Breaks Out the Brooms Against Eastern Washington to Complete 2-0 Big Sky Start

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (September 25, 2021) – It may have been a sweep, but the Northern Arizona volleyball team had to work for it as the Lumberjacks completed a perfect start to conference play on Saturday with a 25-17, 26-24, 25-16 victory over Eastern Washington. NAU is now 2-0 in the Big Sky and 4-7 overall, winning consecutive matches for the first time this season.
 
"Today's match was tough. Eastern played well especially in the second set," said head coach Ken Murphy. "They hit a really good percentage and controlled their side well. Even though we hit a high percentage in the match, I thought they played really good defense against some things that we do well. I give them credit for a really tough match and I'm proud of our team for being resilient and taking that challenge."
 
Despite the Eagles' best defensive efforts, the Lumberjacks hit a season-high .327 in the victory. NAU was low-error, posting its fewest attack errors (5) in a match since tallying only three in a three-set win against Idaho State on Nov. 4, 2017.
 
The Lumberjacks' near error-free performance was critical against an Eagle team that extended a number of rallies throughout the afternoon. Eastern Washington outdug NAU, 55-39, and actually totaled one more kill (41-40) than NAU. However, Eastern Washington committed 17 more attack errors than NAU and the Lumberjacks blanked the Eagles in the ace column, while tying a season-high themselves at the line with nine aces.
 
"If someone just saw the score and the stats, they wouldn't understand that this was a really tough match with a lot of long rallies," Murphy said. "What I like about it was that our team accepted the match. Idaho and Eastern played different styles and our team adapted and did not overthink it. We played the way we wanted to play and that is a trait of a good team."
 
Between three early kills from junior Taylor Jacobsen and four Eagle errors, the Lumberjacks jumped out to a 7-0 lead and led wire-to-wire in claiming the opening set. A brief 5-0 Eastern Washington run made things a little interesting as NAU's 16-6 lead was cut to 16-11, but the set was never in doubt.
 
Jacobsen, who led all players with 15 kills on a season-best .419 hitting, got out to a fast start with six kills in the opening game. It was her fifth match this season with 15 or more kills.
 
The second set was the tightest NAU has played this season with 18 ties and 11 lead changes, and the Lumberjacks needed a late rally to prevent the Eagles from evening the match at 1-1. The pendulum swung back and forth with neither team leading by more than two points until the Lumberjacks appeared to take control of the set.
 
Down 18-16, senior Ryann Davis and sophomore Jordan Elder turned back an Eagle swing to side out and sophomore Kate Hatch followed with an ace out of an NAU timeout. Redshirt junior Morgan Gappmayer gave the 'Jacks the lead with back-to-back kills and Elder capped a 5-0 run with a kill of her own to make it a 21-18 Lumberjack advantage.
 
Eastern Washington immediately tied it at 21-21 though, and actually served for set point at 24-23 before freshman Sophia Wadsworth tooled the block for a kill. Jacobsen put NAU at set point with an emphatic solo block and senior Aubrea Bandfield clinched the set with her second ace.
 
The second set finish gave the Lumberjacks all the momentum they needed to wrap up the sweep with another wire-to-wire set victory. NAU never trailed, using an early 8-3 lead to put away Eastern Washington. The Lumberjacks attacked efficiently, hitting .360 in the final set and used eight Eagle errors and four aces of their own to seal up the win.
 
Sophomore Savannah Bloom, who had two of NAU's four aces in the third set, was one of three players along with Hatch and Bandfield with multiple aces. She also added five kills on nine swings, finishing third on the team in kills behind Jacobsen's 15 and seven from Gappmayer.
 
Sophomore Millie O'Ketter posted a match-high 14 digs and Hatch, who tallied a team-high 17 assists, chipped in seven.
 
The Lumberjacks have a quick turnaround with their next match set for Tuesday on the road at Southern Utah. The 5 p.m. MST first serve is the first of four consecutive road matches for NAU over the next two weeks.
 
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