NAU Volleyball Swept in The Nest by Sacramento State

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (October 29, 2022) - Looking to defeat Sacramento State in the Nest for the second straight year, the Hornets returned the favor from last season to sweep the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks 25-15, 25-12, 25-17 to mark their second straight three-set loss.
 
The Hornets, led on offense by junior outside hitter Bridgette Smith, hit a season-high .390%, marking the highest hitting percentage by a Northern Arizona opponent this season. Sacramento State was hitting above .400 for the majority of the match before being held to a team-low .343% in the final set to bring it below the .400 mark. Northern Arizona had the most life it had in the opening rallies of the first set, where freshman outside hitter Kylie Moran opened the match with her first of five kills. Moran gave the Lumberjacks an early 3-1 lead on her second kill of the afternoon.
 
Northern Arizona hit a team-high .172% in the first set, but the lead quickly disappeared on a 6-0 Sacramento State run led by consecutive kills from Kalani Hayes, who reached double-digit kills for the first time in six matches with 10. The Lumberjacks ended the run thanks to a successful challenge from head coach Ken Murphy that overturned a no-touch call to a kill for senior middle blocker Neche Newton.
 
Five of NAU's first six kills each came from a different Lumberjack, including junior middle blocker Jordan Elder who led the way with eight kills.
 
Another 3-0 run for the Hornets brought the match to its first media timeout. The trend of 3-point runs for Sacramento State continued at the end of the first set, as sophomore hitter Ellie Tisko earned her fourth of five kills in the match to give the Hornets the set.
 
Sacramento State did not wait to jump to a lead in the second set as a pair of kills for Hayes put the Hornets up 3-1. Three separate 3-0 scoring runs put the Hornets up 15-8, and a subsequent 4-0 run gave Sacramento State a double-digit lead, 19-9. Three of the Hornets' six service aces came in Set 2, carrying the Hornets to a 25-12 set victory and 25 points away from completing the season sweep of the Lumberjacks.
 
Junior outside hitter Bridgette Smith, who earned a career-high 24 kills against NAU earlier in the season, led the way for the Hornets with 16 kills, seven of which came in the second set. Smith ended the set with her 12th kill of the match and had already earned a double-double by the end of the set where she amassed 11 of her 15 digs before the final set. She was one of five Hornets players to hit above .300%.
 
The third set began the same way the match began with a kill from Moran, who later finished a 3-0 run for NAU and brought Sacramento State's only timeout with the Hornet lead shrunk to 17-15.
 
The Hornets grew another 3-0 run into a 5-0 run in the middle of the final set, despite a timeout by Northern Arizona in between. To put an exclamation point on their first sweep since Oct. 8 against Montana State, the Hornets ended the match on one final 5-0 run that ended on a team block by Hayes and senior setter Ashtin Olin. Olin had 44 of Sacramento State's 49 assists, her highest total since her season-high 59 against NAU in Flagstaff exactly one month before.
 
Sacramento State out-blocked Northern Arizona 8-4 and was dominant on both offense and defense, winning the kill category 51-26 and led in digs 51-35.
 
The Lumberjacks will close their three-match road trip in Greeley, Colo. against the Northern Colorado Bears on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 5 p.m. MST.
 
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