FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (October 5, 2023) – Sophomore Kylie Moran recorded 15 and a career-high 24 digs in the Northern Arizona volleyball team's four-set defeat at the hands of the Montana State Bobcats, 25-19, 21-25, 19-25, 22-25 in one hour and 58 minutes at Rolle Activity Center Thursday night.
It was the third consecutive match in which Moran has recorded 10 or more kills and is the third instance this season where Moran has either tied or, in this match's case, broke her personal best in digs.
"Kylie is one of the players that makes me most optimistic about this team," head coach Ken Murphy said. "She just keeps getting better every week, working hard, and the more performances she has like this, the more she believes in herself. She has a great future ahead of her."
For the second time in three contests, Northern Arizona featured a set with a hitting percentage above the .375 mark. That came with a .389 offensive performance in set one on Thursday.
After a competitive first 14 points, with three tied scores in the process, NAU would take a 15-10 lead at the media timeout. Following the media break, the Lumberjacks began to gain separation and take five of the next seven points to force a Bobcat timeout, leading 20-12.
Four of NAU's final five points in the opening set would come off of the attack, with the set point being the lone exception, a service error from Montana State.
Seven of Moran's eventual 15 kills came in the first set of play with a trio of Lumberjacks: Hanah Stoddard, Neche Newton and Savannah Bloom, each recording three of their own. When all was said and done, NAU put up 18 kills as a team on 36 swings, committing just four errors in the process.
Dropping the first set by six, Montana State came out of the first set break and won nine of the first 13 points to begin set two. As things began to play out further and further in the second, NAU began to close the Bobcat gap.
Following its second timeout of set two down six, the Lumberjacks would go on a 4-0 run to trail by only one at 17-16. However, Montana State's Kira Thomsen, the reigning Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week, had three of her six second set kills within the final 12 points to even the match at a set apiece.
Senior Millie O'Ketter was all over the court defensively for NAU in the second set, with seven of her eventual 17 digs coming in set two.
The final two sets would be a see-saw battle between the Lumberjacks and Bobcats with a combined 25 tied scores and 16 lead changes.
Tied at 11 in the third, the Bobcats regained the lead on the strength of a service ace and two Northern Arizona attack errors and would not look back. A 5-0 run after that sequence gave Montana State the wiggle room that it needed to finish the third set.
Of the 25 tied scores and 16 lead changes, 17 and 10 of them came in the fourth set. NAU and Montana State were both neck and neck with one another, tied 22-22. The Bobcats would have one more run in them, winning the final three points to seal a road victory in Flagstaff.
A visit from the other Montana school in the Big Sky Conference awaits the Lumberjacks on Saturday afternoon. The match featuring Montana and Northern Arizona will once again be streamed on ESPN+, getting underway at 12 p.m. Both matches with Montana last season went the distance.
"Montana and Montana State are very similar teams," Murphy said. "If we clean some things up on our side and be a little more consistent with how we play, we feel pretty good about the matchup. It is going to be a tough test for us."
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