BERKELEY, Calif. – Sophomore Sydney Kemper hit .571 with nine kills and six blocks and senior Kelli Dallmann and freshman Janae Vander Ploeg totaled double-digit kills to lead NAU to a 3-0 (25-21, 26-24, 25-19) sweep of UC Riverside to open play at the Molten Classic. The Lumberjacks improved to 7-0 and extended their nonconference winning streak to 16 matches while UC Riverside fell to 3-4.
NAU hit .333 for the match, its fourth match of the year with a hitting percentage above .300 after recording one such match all of last season. Kemper, who entered the match leading the Big Sky with a .402 hitting percentage, committed just one error in 14 attacks en route to her impressive .571 percentage, while Dallmann hit .407 and added 10 digs to her 11 kills for her third double-double of the season. NAU had an 8-3 advantage in blocks and UC Riverside committed 19 attack errors to just eight by the Lumberjacks.
NAU will look to complete a second consecutive season sweep of nonconference play on Saturday, facing Penn at 1 p.m. and host Cal at 7 p.m.
