OGDEN, Utah (October 21, 2023) – The two matches this week at Idaho State and Weber State marked the halfway point of Big Sky action for NAU Volleyball (5-14, 2-6). In its second match of the week, the Lumberjacks fell in straight sets to Weber State (14-6, 7-2), 23-25, 11-25, 20-25 at Swenson Gym in Ogden on Saturday afternoon.
"I'm really proud of this group today," head coach Ken Murphy said. "They played hard and had a great competitive spirit. There were a lot of long rallies, and Weber State was able to finish them a little better than us today, but I know we can get there."
Facing off with a Weber State team that had won six of eight Big Sky matches entering the day, Northern Arizona held their own in the opening set in enemy territory.
The Lumberjacks would possess the lead for most of set one, with an advantage as great as six at one point in the first.
Up 20-14 late in the opening set, the Wildcats would begin to claw back, going on a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to two, forcing a timeout to be used by Murphy. NAU would go back up by three before Weber would make their next move.
A 5-0 run gave Weber State a chance to close out the opening set, up 24-22. The home team would accomplish that two points later after an NAU attack error.
Despite dropping set one in heartbreaking fashion, Northern Arizona struck 15 kills and received seven of those from Jordan Cherniss, who hit a team-high .333 in the first on 18 swings. Hanah Stoddard would add five more.
At the other end of the floor, it was a big opening set for senior Millie O'Ketter as she recorded 10 digs alone in the first. O'Ketter would go on to finish with 19 and is now in the top five all-time for Northern Arizona University in career digs.
Two other Lumberjacks would end the match with double-digit digs, including Keira Hall with 17 and Cherniss with 12. Hall would be the lone NAU player to have a double-double, also contributing 12 assists on the afternoon.
"I thought that Millie and Keira played strong defense and gave us chances to score points," Murphy said. "Also, Neche [Newton] probably had her best weekend at NAU both offensively and from the standpoint of impacting the match."
Over the two matches this week, Newton put up 11 kills and fired her first service ace of the season against Idaho State on Thursday. She hit a team-best .333 in the defeat to the Bengals two days earlier.
After nearly dropping the first set, Weber State took control of the second set early, with a 7-0 run allowing the Wildcats to create a six-point gap early in the second.
A match-best .342 hitting percentage from the home team would propel them to a 25-11 victory in set two.
It looked as if Weber State would be heading to a comfortable victory in set three, with a five-point lead at 17-12. The Lumberjacks would reduce the margin with a 3-0 run to bring them within two. NAU would be within two points of the Wildcats four times after that run.
Weber State would go on one final 4-0 run to close the match out and complete a first sweep of the Lumberjacks since 2021.
Northern Arizona will return home next week as they will welcome Portland State and the current top team in the Big Sky, Sacramento State, on Thursday and Saturday night, respectively. Both matches will kick off at 6:30 p.m. and will stream live on ESPN+.
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