CEDAR CITY, Utah (September 28, 2021) – To reach the goals they've set, the Northern Arizona volleyball team needed to find success on the road, and they did that and more on Tuesday in a 25-16, 25-15, 25-21 sweep of Southern Utah. With their third consecutive three-set victory, the Lumberjacks remain undefeated in conference play at 3-0 while improving to 5-7 overall.
"The team did a great job of preparing for this match," said head coach
Ken Murphy. "We knew how we wanted to play it and we were committed to it from the first point. Preparation was a big part of this and the team was focused right away, and kept that focus throughout the entire match."
It is the first time that NAU has posted three consecutive 3-0 victories in the Big Sky regular season since 2016, which is also the last time the Lumberjacks opened conference with a 3-0 mark. That year, NAU started out 4-0, which matched a program-best.
NAU, who picked up its first win on the road this fall, was once again effective in all phases of the match, putting down 41 kills and hitting .276, while holding Southern Utah to a .067 clip. NAU also recorded more aces (4-2), more digs (41-34) and more blocks (7.0-4.0) than Southern Utah.
Although junior
Taylor Jacobsen, the reigning Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week, led all players with 14 kills, it was the tandem of senior
Ryann Davis and redshirt junior
Morgan Gappmayer who stole the show. Gappmayer (.727) and Davis (.667) both set new career-highs in hitting percentage with each player totaling eight kills without an error between them.
"On different nights, we're capable of having different players contribute just a little bit more," Murphy said. "Morgan was great tonight and hit a ton of really good shots, and Ryann took advantage of her shots. We need that kind of balance. If you look at the whole match, Taylor played a great match and just made a few hitting errors that she normally wouldn't."
Gappmayer and Davis were sizzling from the start, combining for seven of NAU's 14 kills in a wire-to-wire first set victory. Gappmayer (four kills on four attempts) and Davis (three kills on three attempts) were perfect from the start as NAU built an insurmountable 10-2 lead. The Lumberjacks only allowed four Thunderbird kills in the brisk opening game.
NAU never trailed in the second set either and led for the entirety with the exception of a brief 1-1 tie. Jacobsen hammered down consecutive kills to break the tie as the 'Jacks eventually burst out to a 10-4 advantage. The Lumberjacks hit a blistering .500 in the set with Jacobsen ripping off five of her 14 kills.
As lopsided as the first two sets were, Southern Utah put up a battle in the third, taking its first lead of the match early and hanging around midway through, trailing just 13-11. Kills by Davis and Gappmayer pushed the NAU lead to 15-11 going into the media timeout, but Southern Utah fought immediately back to tie it at 15-15.
The Lumberjacks regained the advantage right away though, with two Thunderbird errors between kills by Davis and Gappmayer once again gave them a 19-15 edge they would not relinquish, although Southern Utah made it interesting at the end. After Jacobsen put NAU at match point with a kill – her third in a four-point span – at 24-17, Southern Utah held off four straight match points.
The 4-0 Southern Utah run forced NAU to call a timeout, and Jacobsen quickly put an end to the Thunderbird rally with her final kill of the evening.
In addition to her 14 kills, Jacobsen also notched two of NAU's four aces with the other two coming from senior
Aubrea Bandfield, who reached 100 aces for her career on Tuesday. Bandfield and sophomore
Kate Hatch both recorded 14 assists to guide the Lumberjacks' offense and sophomore
Millie O'Ketter logged a team-best nine digs.
NAU will put its undefeated Big Sky record on the line on Saturday at Northern Colorado. The Bears, who are currently 2-0 in conference play, will host the Thunderbirds in Greeley on Thursday prior to the Lumberjacks' arrival. First serve on Saturday between NAU and Northern Colorado is 5 p.m. MST.
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