Lumberjacks Fall in Straight Sets to Portland State

PORTLAND, Ore. (October 27, 2022) - After building up a 15-7 lead thanks to a 7-0 run in the third set, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks struggled to stop the Portland State Vikings from turning the tide Thursday night.

Closing out the third set on an 11-0 run, the Vikings (14-7, 9-1 Big Sky) secured a sweep of the Lumberjacks (3-14, 2-8 Big Sky) with a 25-20, 25-22, 25-18 victory at Viking Pavilion. After hitting .363 in the opening set, Northern Arizona slipped down to .122 in the second and .060 in the third for a game total of .160 to match their percentage from the first meeting with Portland State this season.

The Vikings countered with a .214 hitting percentage, also slipping from .412 in the opening set down to .153 and .154 in the second and third. 

Northern Arizona and Portland State combined for just six attack errors in the first set as the set tied 13 times, the final at 18-18. Neither side led by more than two points in the set, with the Lumberjacks taking their first lead on kills from Neche Newton and Savannah Hasson. The first of four one-point advantages in the set, Newton put the Lumberjacks ahead 9-8 with a kill before Kacee Moore pushed Northern Arizona in front 13-12 with a kill and 15-14 with a solo block.

The Vikings pulled ahead 21-18 thanks to the Lumberjacks' only two attack errors of the set, as Portland State closed out the set with a 7-2 run. 

While the opening set stayed close until the end, the second set provided the opposite as Portland State immediately jumped out to a 4-0 lead on four consecutive kills. Trailing by six or seven points for most of the set, the Lumberjacks began to chip away at 17-10.

A kill by Jordan Elder started a 3-0 run, with a Portland State attack error and another solo block by Moore pulled Northern Arizona within four at 17-13. Moore started another 3-0 run before an attack error and a kill by Hasson forced a Portland State timeout at 20-17. 

Down 22-17 after a service ace, Northern Arizona threatened to take their first lead in the set with a 5-2 run. However, another timeout by Portland State allowed the Vikings to slow the Lumberjacks down and clinch the match on the first point out of the brief break. 

Shaping up for a similar pattern to the first set, with ties at 2-2 and 4-4, the Lumberjacks broke the third set open in their favor looking to avoid a sweep. Back-to-back kills by Elder put Northern Arizona in front 4-3 and a pair of Viking attack errors at 4-4 set the Lumberjacks up for their 7-0 run.

Kills by Kate Hatch, Elder and Kyle Moran made it 9-4 with Hatch and Elder combining for a block to send the set into a timeout by Portland State. A kill by Moore and another attack error closed the run with the Lumberjacks in command at 11-4.

However, the Vikings slowly chipped away at the lead and trailed 16-12 following a 4-0 run that included kills by three different Vikings. Unable to slow down the Vikings out of a timeout, the Lumberjacks slipped into an 18-18 tie as Portland State closed out the sweep with an 11-0 run after trailing 18-14.

Elder led the team with eight kills, the first time finishing without a player with double-digit kills since facing Michigan on Aug. 26. Elder added three block assists to lead the team while Moore added two solo blocks. Hasson and Moran finished with six kills apiece.

Northern Arizona heads down to California for a match against the Sacramento State Hornets on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Hornets, 10-12 overall this season and 6-4 in the Big Sky, fell to the Northern Colorado Bears 3-1 at home on Thursday.