FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Sept 18, 2024) - The Northern Arizona women's volleyball team will take on the Utah Tech Trailblazers tomorrow on Sept. 19 at 5 p.m. Mountain Standard time for the second leg of the Utah road trip.
This will only be the second time in history that the two teams will play each other. The first match was played in 2022 as part of NAU's home opener in Flagstaff. The Trailblazers currently lead 1-0 in the all-time series after they won 3-1.
In their first meeting, NAU outhit Utah Tech, .193-.167, and registered 10 aces to the Trailblazers' four. The Lumberjacks posted 8.0 blocks. The two teams had 50 kills apiece while Utah Tech held the slim dig advantage, 72-69.
The Trailblazers are off to a 6-2 start on their 2024 campaign. Thursday's match will be their home opener after going 2-1 last weekend at the College of Charleston Invitational. UTU opened tournament play on Friday with a five-set win over Middle Tennessee before falling in four sets to the host Cougars later that night. The weekend wrapped up on Saturday afternoon with a sweep over Robert Morris with the Trailblazers hitting .279 as a team, to complete their third sweep of the season.
The Trailblazers are among the WAC conference leaders in several categories ranking second in opponent hitting percentage (.166), third in aces per set (1.63), blocks per set (2.38), kills per set (12.31), and fourth in hitting percentage (.204).
Northern Arizona completed a three-set sweep (25-23, 25-21, 25-16) yesterday over Southern Utah, putting its season record at 5-4. Taylor Jacobsen would lead the 'Jacks in three categories; kills, digs, and service aces. Three of her service aces were completed back-to-back and would be the concluding points of the match. Karya Suvarioglu led in assists with 16. Avery Gottschalk topped the board in blocks with seven. NAU will take on Utah Tech tomorrow before they return the match and play them again at home on Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. MST. The two matches against UTU will conclude non-conference play before Weber State heads to Flagstaff on Sept. 25 to start the Big Sky Conference season.
Live streaming of tomorrow's match will be available on WACinternational.tv along with live stats. The home game against the Trailblazers will be available to stream on ESPN+ along with live stats.
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