FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (October 11, 2022) - The Lumberjack Volleyball team is heading on the road for a trip to Missoula and Bozeman, as they look to use momentum gained from Saturday's win against Northern Colorado to pick up a pair of Big Sky wins. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+ as Thursday and Sunday's matches will start at 6 p.m. MST.
NAU (2-10, 1-4 Big Sky) is heading into this week's matchups coming off its first conference win, earning the 3-2 victory at home to Northern Colorado. The Lumberjacks picked up two set wins to start the match, and after dropping the next two they went on to win in five, for their first five-set win of the season.
The Lumberjacks fought their way to victory in a heavily defensive game on Saturday, recording 16 blocks as a team which was the most since the spring 2021 season where they recorded 18. Leading the 'Jacks in kills was Freshman Kylie Moran who posted 13 in the match.
Jordan Cherniss recorded her career high with 5 aces in the match, putting her career total at 15 in just half of one season. Kate Hatch wrote her name in the record books, becoming the ninth player in program history to record 1,000 assists. Hatch posted 41 assists in the match and 13 digs as she earned her team-high eighth double-double.
As the 'Jacks focus on improving their record heading into the road trip, the team will face a 10-7, 3-2 Big Sky Montana team, sitting at No. 4 in the conference standings. Montana State is 6-11 overall and, 2-3 in Big Sky play at No. 8 in the conference standings ahead of this weekend's matches.
After opening up conference play with three consecutive wins, Montana is coming off back-to-back losses to Sacramento State and Portland State. The Griz are led by Paige Clark who has recorded 211 kills and 26 blocks at the net. Clark recorded eight kills against No. 1 Portland State, and tabbed four against the Hornets accompanied by seven errors.
Setter Carly Anderson is No. 3 in the Big Sky in assists with 579 on the season, averaging 9.81 on the season. Defensively, Montana looks to redshirt senior Sarina Moreno who leads the team with 227, averaging 3.85 a set, ranking fifth in the Big Sky.
NAU and Montana last met on the court in Flagstaff on Sept. 22 as the 'Jacks dropped their Big Sky opener 2-3 to the Grizzlies. Hatch posted her second season high with 45 assists on the night, as Millie O'Ketter earned 20 digs for her first 20+ dig game of the season. Montana's Clark recorded 19 kills to lead the Griz to the five set win.
Heading into this weeks matchups, Montana State is looking to bounce back from losses at Sacramento State and Portland State last week. The Bobcats are on a three game skid as they fell to Montana at home ahead of their road trip to the Vikings and Hornets. Sophomore Courtney Weatherby leads the Cats through 17 matches with 135 kills, averaging 2.14 a set on 458 attempts. Jordan Radick ranks third in the conference in hitting percentage at .328 with 109 kills on the season.
Audrey Hofer has recorded 592 assists for MSU, along with a third team-high of 16 aces this season. Lauren Lindseth, the freshman libero out of Great Falls, leads the team with 247 digs, averaging 3.58 per set.
The Jacks and the Bobcats will enter their first matchup of the season on Saturday. NAU leads the series 43-27 while 19-15 in Bozeman, losing the last three matchups to the Cats. The last time the two teams faced one another was in the Big Sky Championships, where NAU fell in a 2-3 heartbreaker.
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