FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (September 7, 2023) – Facing off against a second undefeated team in as many matches, the Northern Arizona volleyball team dropped a fourth consecutive match, falling to Arizona State in straight sets at home, 11-25, 10-25, 13-25.
"I think that they [Arizona State] were really efficient," head coach Ken Murphy said. "They didn't hit many errors and turned it into a situation where if we made errors, we would start leaving points, and that is what happened tonight."
The Sun Devils got off to a 10-2 lead in the first set on the strength of six kills, three Lumberjack attack errors and a service ace through the first 12 points. After a timeout from Northern Arizona, the Lumberjacks would cut the lead in half to five, guided by kills from Neche Newton and Hanah Stoddard.
Both Newton and Stoddard recorded four kills each on the night. Newton finished with a hitting percentage of .375, her third match this season hitting over the .300 mark.
"I thought that Hanah got better as the match moved along," Murphy said. "Neche played at a really strong level from start to finish, and we have some things that were positive for us, and we just need to learn how to play a more mature match."
Arizona State would then put their foot on the gas pedal, winning 15 of the final 21 points to wrap an opening set that saw the Sun Devils hit 14 kills on 25 swings and finished set one hitting at .480.
NAU and ASU would split the first eight points of the second set, with the Lumberjacks receiving kills from Savannah Bloom and Sophia Wadsworth during the stretch. However, after that, the visitors would go on a 7-1 run to take a 12-5 lead. Arizona State would close the set, winning 10 of the final 11 points to take the lead into the half.
Wadsworth would lead the Lumberjacks with five kills on the night, marking the first time that the redshirt sophomore had led NAU in kills. On the other side of the floor, senior Millie O'Ketter's 10 digs are the fifth time in seven matches that she has reached double-digit digs.
The halftime break gave the Lumberjacks a jolt, beginning the third set with a 4-1 lead off of two kills, a service ace and an ASU offensive error, riling up the announced crowd of 826 at Rolle Activity Center early in set three. Arizona State would catch fire again in set three, taking the next eight points to regain a five-point lead.
Northern Arizona would get back to within four before the Sun Devils pulled away in the third, guided by three different 4-0 runs to wrap up the match.
Another night match will be in store for the team tomorrow night. It will be a battle of two schools with the shared Lumberjack mascot, Northern Arizona and Stephen F. Austin. First serve is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Rolle Activity Center. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.
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