FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 18, 2023) – On an afternoon that saw Neche Newton and Savannah Bloom celebrated for their accomplishments throughout their Lumberjack careers, the Northern Arizona volleyball team made sure to send them out winners. Doing so in straight sets against Idaho State 25-17, 25-22, 25-21 at Rolle Activity Center on Saturday.
"This was a great win, especially for our seniors," head coach Ken Murphy said. "If this was their last match, I think that Neche and Savannah played great matches, especially on offense. They played with a lot of enthusiasm and maturity and could not be more proud of both of them."
Both celebrated seniors went out with a bang as Bloom, for the eighth time in her NAU tenure, finished with double-digit kills, striking 10 of them today on just 17 attacks and two errors.
At the net, the Queen Creek, Arizona native had a solo block and pair of block assists as part of Northern Arizona's 11 total blocks in the match.
Newton's afternoon consisted of seven kills on 12 swings, hitting at an even .500 for the match. Like Bloom, she also contributed a solo block.
Junior Kendall Robertson played a role in eight of the 11 Lumberjack blocks, matching a career-high for her set against Prairie View A&M on Aug. 26, by earning four by herself and four block assists.
It was all Northern Arizona early and often in the first of action, with the Lumberjacks winning six of the first seven points before eventually jumping to an 11-point advantage at 15-4.
Idaho State started to inch closer, going a 5-0 run to make it 15-9, but that was as close as Idaho State got, with NAU forcing the Bengals to hit at just a .036 clip throughout the opening set to win it by a 25-17 scoreline.
The Lumberjacks brought their best offense in the second set, hitting a match-best .303, coming from 14 kills on 33 attempts to just four errors.
Down 6-3 early in set two, kills from Newton and sophomore Kylie Moran and redshirt freshman Hanah Stoddard quickly gave Northern Arizona the lead right back and would not let go of it for the remainder of the set into the break.
Moran added the Lumberjacks' lone double-double on the day, with 10 kills on 12 digs. Moran, Stoddard, and senior Millie O'Ketter all had at least a dozen digs, with O'Ketter having a team-high 15.
A balanced offensive attack, seeing five NAU players record multiple kills in the set and the 'Jacks out blocking the Bengals 5-3, went a long way to putting the home team two sets to the good at the break.
Coming out of the second set break, with the score tied at four apiece, Northern Arizona went on a 4-0 streak to double their lead. Following Idaho State closing the gap to make it 10-8, a second 4-0 run in the third set increased the lead to six and forced Bengals head coach Sean Carter to burn his second timeout.
Four match points came and went in the third, but on number five, NAU wrapped up its season on a kill from Robertson with its fourth win in straight sets this season.
"I'm really happy for the girls," Murphy said. "They have been working really hard, and to see them get the results is terrific. It feels good to have a nice complete game to end our season on."
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