| Northern Arizona vs. New Mexico |
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (September 11, 2023) – After finishing the 2023 Lumberjack Classic on a winning note after a five-set win over Boise State, Northern Arizona volleyball will face one more Mountain West opponent, the New Mexico Lobos on Wednesday night as part of this season-long four-match homestand.
It will be a quick turnaround for the Lumberjacks (3-6), who will then travel to Albuquerque to face off with the Lobos at the Johnson Center on the New Mexico campus on Friday.
"I really like what we do this week playing New Mexico first at home and then playing over there," head coach Ken Murphy said. "It gets us in the rhythm for the regular season playing two matches in a week. We know that New Mexico has a really solid team, and we have a lot of respect for how well they are coached. We are trying to carry the momentum we had from this past weekend into this week."
The 2023 season is the third straight season that Northern Arizona and New Mexico have scheduled a home-and-home series with one another leading up to the conference season that begins next week.
Out of the previous four matches, New Mexico is 3-1, with the Lumberjacks' lone victory coming in four sets on Sept. 16, 2021. Each of those four contests went at least four sets, with the most recent meeting between the two going to overtime in the fifth set before the Lobos pulled away with the win.
All-time, Northern Arizona trails the series 12-15, but the teams have split the previous eight meetings in Flagstaff. NAU will be looking for its first true road win in Albuquerque since Oct. 18, 1980.
NAU has plenty of momentum after snapping its five-match losing streak in dramatic fashion to the Broncos on Saturday afternoon. For the first time in four years, the Lumberjacks scooped up 103 digs, occurring for the sixth time in Murphy's 11-year tenure, with Millie O'Ketter setting a new career high with 35 digs versus Boise State.
In addition to O'Ketter, multiple other Lumberjacks set career highs in the match, including Sophia Wadsworth in kills, attacks and blocks; Kylie Moran had 62 swings, which was one more than her previous career high; Hanah Stoddard also struck a new career high with 21 kills.
O'Ketter and Stoddard were named to the 2023 Lumberjack Classic All-Tournament Team. It was Stoddard's first recognition to an all-tournament team in her collegiate career, while it was O'Ketter's second in as many weeks.
New Mexico (6-3) is off to a strong start under fifth-year head coach and 2005 NAU graduate Jon Newman-Gonchar. Picked sixth in the Mountain West preseason coaches poll, the Lobos have finished with a 2-1 record in each of the three non-conference tournaments they have participated in. Most recently, Uxue Guereca was named the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week after finishing last weekend at the UND Classic with 48 kills and 55 points.
Both the matches in Flagstaff and Albuquerque will be streamed. Wednesday's match will air live on ESPN+ starting at 6:30 p.m. Friday night's contest will be available on the Mountain West Network with a 5:30 p.m. first serve time.
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