OGDEN, Utah (September 24, 2022) – The Northern Arizona Lumberjacks were unable to stave off defeat Saturday night in Ogden, Utah, fall to the co-defending regular season champion Weber State Wildcats in their first road conference match of the season.
Weber State used a strong start to earn its first conference victory of the season, with a 25-13, 17-25, 25-15, 25-18 win against Northern Arizona. The Lumberjacks played without senior outside hitter
Taylor Jacobsen, who missed the match after earning back-to-back career highs in kills in her team's past two outings outings against New Mexico and Montana.
In the absence of Jacobsen, Northern Arizona looked for other options on the attack. Redshirt freshman outside hitter
Kacee Moore took the torch, matching the career-high 11 kills she earned on Thursday night in Flagstaff against Montana. Continuing her return from an injury was freshman outside hitter
Kylie Moran, who appeared briefly on Thursday against Montana but made her first appearance in multiple sets since NAU's loss to California on Sept. 2. Moran earned a new career-high in her still young freshman season, racking up eight kills.
Moore and Moran combined for 83 of NAU's 140 total attacks. The two were neutralized by a strong Wildcat defense which had a season-best 25 total blocks, 10 of which came in the second set.
Weber State opened the match with an 11-0 run headlined by senior opposite hitter Emma Mangum, who earned a season-high 14 kills. The Wildcats held down the Lumberjacks in the first set, forcing eight errors to the Lumberjacks' eight kills. Weber State translated that into offense as well, with 12 kills on just two errors. Junior middle blocker
Savannah Hasson was an early catalyst, with three of her seven kills coming in the opening frame.
The second set saw a complete role reversal as the Lumberjacks took an early 10-4 lead, which included a 5-0 run where redshirt freshman
Jordan Cherniss recorded two service aces. Cherniss continued her strong serving performance from Thursday against Montana where she also earned two aces. Cherniss finished with four of Northern Arizona's five total service aces, with Moran adding one herself.
Weber State used a timeout after a brief 3-0 NAU run and used another as NAU led 19-12. The Lumberjacks forced 11 attack errors in the second set after seeing just two in the first. The second stanza also took a defensive shift, with the Lumberjacks recording 10 block assists and held Weber State to below .100 hitting after the two sets.
The Wildcats turned it back on in the third set as Mangum opened with back-to-back kills followed by a service ace from sophomore setter Kate Standiford, who had a career-high four including the final point of the match to secure the win.
Weber State received a boost from junior outside hitter Dani Richins. The defending Big Sky MVP earned 12 kills, 11 of which came in the final two sets. The third set became an offensive affair for Weber State as the Wildcats hit .516 and gathered 17 of their 25 points in the third set through kills after being held to 20 in the first two sets combined. Weber State went on a 7-1 run, turning its 11-9 advantage into an 18-10 lead late in the set.
The Wildcats closed the deal with a 6-1 run to open the fourth set before an NAU timeout. NAU went on a modest 4-0 run with the back end led by consecutive aces from Cherniss. Each team went back and forth in the middle of the set, including a tie at 11-11, before Weber State ended the match with a 5-0 run. The Lumberjacks hit .086, their lowest mark of the season and the third-lowest by a Weber State opponent this season.
The victory for Weber State marks the fifth straight against Northern Arizona. The Lumberjacks last defeated the Wildcats in March 2021 when NAU snapped Weber State's undefeated 10-0 record, the only loss the Wildcats suffered to a Big Sky school that season. NAU (1-8, 0-2 Big Sky) will return to Flagstaff after its short road trip to begin a three-match homestead starting with Sacramento State on Thursday, Sept. 29 at 6:30 p.m. MST. The match can be streamed on ESPN+.
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