| Northern Arizona vs. Weber State | vs. Idaho State |
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 15, 2023) – The Northern Arizona volleyball team (6-19, 3-11) will be looking to win consecutive matches for the first time this weekend when they play host to Weber State (17-8, 10-4) on Thursday night before celebrating senior day Saturday afternoon as the Lumberjacks will take on the Idaho State Bengals (8-17, 6-8).
"We have had one of our best weeks of practice of the year leading up to this match," head coach Ken Murphy said." "Our team is continuing to work hard, trying to win matches here, and we are excited to have a couple more opportunities to continue the journey that we have been on this year."
It was a tale of two matches last week, as NAU was eliminated from postseason contention at Eastern Washington on Thursday before coming back and playing one of its most effective matches of the season, sweeping Idaho for a second time this season.
Offensively, the Lumberjacks finished the match, hitting at a .316 percentage on the basis of 40 kills and nine errors on 98 attempts.
NAU also would have one of its most effective matches of the season on the service line, hitting nine total service aces, including three from the team leader in the category, senior Millie O'Ketter. It was Northern Arizona's highest total in the category since having 11 of them against Florida A&M on Sept. 1.
Redshirt freshman Hanah Stoddard led all Lumberjacks with 15 kills, hitting a career-best .577 in the process. Among those with at least nine attacks, three NAU players hit over .400 in the victory last Saturday.
On the other end of the floor, Northern Arizona kept Idaho at bay throughout the match, holding the hometown Vandals to a hitting percentage below .01 in two of the three sets.
Northern Arizona went head-to-head with both Weber State and Idaho State in mid-October, resulting in back-to-back sweeps against the Wildcats and Bengals. The Lumberjacks will be searching to end their seven straight defeats at the hands of Weber State.
Against Idaho State, NAU has had plenty of recent success, having won eight of the last 10 contests over the Bengals.
Weber State has an outside chance to clinch, at best, a share of the Big Sky regular season championship, depending on what happens with Sacramento State this weekend. Having recorded 17 wins again this season, it is the sixth consecutive season in which they either matched that total or exceeded it.
Idaho State has been one of the surprises of the Big Sky this season, having been picked ninth in the 2023 Big Sky Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll. A stretch of six matches that saw the Bengals win five of them, including wins against Portland State and defending champion Northern Colorado.
The two matches this weekend will be streamed live on ESPN+, with a start time on Thursday set for 6:30 p.m., and Saturday afternoon's action will kick off at 12 p.m.
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