Box score
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 21, 2015) – A team whose last loss came in September, Northern Arizona Volleyball hasn’t been one to look back. Now they look back to the 20th century, as the Lumberjacks claimed the 2015 Big Sky Conference Volleyball championship, their first title since 1999.
NAU’s dream season continued after fighting past Idaho State for a 3-0 win in the conference title match Saturday. The tournament host Lumberjacks didn’t drop a set throughout the tournament, also defeating Southern Utah in the quarterfinals and knocking off Sacramento State in the semis. NAU's attack was stout throughout the weekend, hitting .348 as a team to set a new Big Sky tournament record.
Janae Vander Ploeg had 12 kills and Payton Bock added 10 with eight blocks to help NAU to their 17th-straight victory and 28th overall. Both those marks extended school records for the Lumberjacks (28-4), and they now move on to the NCAA Tournament with the Big Sky’s automatic bid.
"It hasn't sunk in just yet," said NAU head coach Ken Murphy. "The girls worked so hard to get to this place and now that it's finally here, you tell yourself, 'man, it really happened.' Idaho State was great tonight and this match was a battle from the first point to the last. Nothing came easy, and both teams had to fight for every single point. It goes back to the character of our group. They never let up, and in the end that showed."
Jensen Barton produced 34 assists, Lauren Jacobsen and Addy Lofstedt each chipped in seven kills, and Barton and Jacobsen each grabbed nine digs. Stacia Williams led a strong NAU defensive effort with a match-high 18 digs and Jordan Leiter contributed 11 with three service aces.
While NAU went 9-0 in sets during the tournament, Saturday’s match wasn’t as much as a breeze as their first two matches. After rolling through the first two tournament games and hitting over .440 in both, NAU’s attack was limited to .206 Saturday. A back-and-forth match featured 30 ties and 12 lead changes.
"When we get ready for a match, we tell ourselves we're going to hang our hat on our defense and our effort," Murphy said. "If the offense comes, the offense comes and we're going to win with defense. Tonight, we did what we've been doing all year and that's where we find our pride and our energy."
In a thrilling opening set, NAU built a four-point cushion late in the set, but a chippy ISU team fought back and fended off two set points to tie the score 24-24. ISU battled off two more set points from NAU, but a kill from Lofstedt and a block by Bock and Barton gave NAU a 28-26 victory.
With the score tied at 18 late in the second set, Lofstedt started and finished a 7-0 to end the set and take a 2-0 lead in the match. ISU had four straight attack errors during that surge by NAU, one coming on a solo block from Bock.
ISU moved out to an early 4-0 lead in the third set, but NAU clawed back and took the lead on a kill from Bock and extended that lead to 22-18. ISU showed resiliency late, as Hayley Farrer and Makenzie Filer each had kills and assisted on a block together in between to tie the set back up at 22. Jacobsen put NAU on the brink with a service ace and an ISU block error sealed the third set 25-23 and the title for NAU.
Already the conference MVP this season, Vander Ploeg added the tournament MVP to her resume as well. Bock was named to the all-tournament team along with NAU’s Jacobsen and Barton.
"It's such an unbelievable accomplishment for our team," Vander Ploeg said. "The entire team was invested and we wanted to get better every day. We knew it wasn't going to be an easy ride. It's amazing how much can change in one year, but our team just kept getting better."
Playing in its fourth championship match in as many years, the Bengals (23-10) gave NAU its toughest test yet in the tournament. ISU was held to .129 hitting and had 25 attack errors.
Tressa Lyman concluded a stellar career for the Bengals, leading the match with 19 kills to go with 15 digs and a .333 hitting percentage. Farrer had 36 assists, 11 digs and five blocks, being named to the all-tournament team along with Lyman. Chloe Hirst (11 kills, 11 digs) and Makenzie Filer (seven kills, eight blocks) each chipped in valiant efforts for the Bengals.
Also earning an all-tournament nod was Idaho’s Kaela Straw, who put together two strong matches for the Vandals with 32 kills overall.
The NCAA tournament-bound Lumberjacks will now await their pairing, which will be announced on November 29th on ESPNU.