FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- The Northern Arizona volleyball team returns to the Rolle Activity Center for a critical homestand versus Montana on Thursday and Montana State on Saturday, before heading back out on the road for the next two weeks. Both matches will start at 7 p.m. and can be watched live on FOX Sports Arizona Plus.
The Lumberjacks are 12-3 overall and 3-1 in the Big Sky Conference following last week's road split against Idaho and Southern Utah. Montana is 2-14 overall and 2-2 in conference play, while Montana State is 3-13 and 0-4. Montana handed NAU a five-set defeat in last year's Big Sky Championship quarterfinals.
"Both Montana and Montana State present different challenges for us," NAU coach Ken Murphy said. "Last weekend helped us identify some areas we can keep improving in, and it gave us a tremendous amount of confidence in our ability to regroup and deal with adversity. I'm excited with putting that into play this weekend. Being at home gives us comfort, but we're focused on Montana on Thursday and the things we need to do to be successful and improve through that match."
NAU's 12-3 start is one win shy of the program's best record after 15 games. The Lumberjacks have three players in the top-10 of the Big Sky in hitting percentage: Junior Payton Bock (.389, first), senior Taylor Stephens (.340, sixth) and senior Sydney Kemper (.303, ninth).
