MOSCOW, Idaho (November 11, 2023) – The Northern Arizona Volleyball team (6-19, 3-11) earned its first Big Sky road victory of the season in decisive fashion, taking down Idaho in straight sets, 25-14, 25-21, 25-10 in Moscow on Saturday afternoon.
"I think we were relaxed and ready to play hard today," head coach Ken Murphy said. "The team did a really nice job staying focused and controlling the match from start to finish."
The Lumberjacks hit a season-high .324 the last time the two teams faced in Flagstaff on Sept. 23 and hit over .300 again on Saturday, finishing with a percentage at .316. This is the third consecutive time in the head-to-head series that NAU had a hitting percentage over .300.
With a one-point lead over Idaho 8-7 to start set one, Northern Arizona started to get the offense cooking, winning seven of the next eight contested including three kills from three different NAU players in Hanah Stoddard, Neche Newton and Sophia Wadsworth.
The Idaho native Stoddard would end up finishing the match with 15 kills on 26 swings with no errors, hitting at a .577 clip, her career-best in hitting percentage and the second-highest percentage from an individual at NAU this season. Defensively, Stoddard also led the charge with nine digs for the Lumberjacks.
"Hanah had another stand-out match all the way around," Murphy said. "She obviously took great swings but was also strong in the serve and pass phases."
With a minimum of 10 attempts, Stoddard was one of two Lumberjacks that hit over .450, with senior Savannah Bloom being the other. Bloom ended the day with eight kills on 15 attacks with just a lone error to boot.
"Savannah was nearly unstoppable in both matches this weekend," Murphy said. "It's good to see her gaining confidence and continuing to develop as the season progresses."
There were plenty of threes involved in the first set. Following the 7-1 run, NAU would have two more 3-0 stretches and recorded three service aces in the opening portion of play.
Defensively, Northern Arizona was equally effective in set one, forcing the Vandals to hit only .036 based on eight attack errors.
Around the same point that NAU found their footing on offense in the first set was the same time that they would do so in set two. The Lumberjacks went into the media timeout up 15-12, three points into what would become a 6-0 run to extend their advantage to six.
Following the six straight points from the Lumberjacks, Idaho would reduce the lead, going on a 4-0 run themselves to get within two at 18-16.
The Vandals were unable to keep the momentum as Northern Arizona would not relinquish its lead and finished with a four-point margin of victory in the second.
NAU came out after the break firing, winning the first four points and eventually taking eight of the first nine to open the floodgates in what would be a 15-point third set victory for the visitors.
After breaking the .300 hitting plateau in the first set, the Lumberjacks took it to another level in what would be the final set of action, closing with 14 kills on 26 swings and just one error, equating to a .500 hit percentage. On the other side, Northern Arizona would not let Idaho hit higher than .143 in a set during the match, including two sets with the Vandals attacking below .100.
One final homestand awaits the Lumberjacks next week as they will return to Rolle Activity Center to host Weber State on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. and Idaho State on Saturday afternoon, with first ball coming at noon.
Both matches next weekend will be streamed live on ESPN+.
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