FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- The Northern Arizona volleyball team concludes the first half of Big Sky play this week with a pair of home matches versus Northern Colorado and North Dakota this Thursday and Saturday. Thursday's match will be televised live by FOX Sports Arizona.
Thursday's game starts at 7 p.m., and Saturday's is at 7:30.
The Lumberjacks (12-5, 6-2 Big Sky) saw their three-match win streak come to an end at Montana State last Friday in five sets, but rebounded with one of their best matches of the season the following night defeating Montana in four sets. They enter the week in a three-way with Portland State and Idaho State for second place in the conference. North Dakota remains atop the standings with a perfect 8-0 Big Sky record.
Thursday's opponent Northern Colorado is 6-12 overall and 2-6 in the Big Sky. The two teams split a par of matches last year. North Dakota is 13-7 overall and 8-0 in the Big Sky, but the Lumberjacks had their number last year, winning both matches. NAU is 7-1 on its home court this season.
"We're excited to play at home again," NAU coach Ken Murphy said. "We like the energy of our crowd and the energy of our gym. The teams coming in are really good and it's going to be great matches. We want to see how we're stacking up at this point of the year."
North Dakota leads the conference in hitting percentage, kills and assists. Senior Lisa Parlich leads the conference with a .403 hitting percentage, senior Ronni Munkeby is in the top-10 in kills, blocks and points, and junior Nikki Husfeldt leads the Big Sky with 10.86 assists per set.
Jana Vander Ploeg and Sydney Kemper rank 1-2 for the Lumberjacks in kills, digs and points.
