HONOLULU, Hawaii -- Friday night was a night of firsts for the Northern Arizona volleyball team. For the first time all season, the Lumberjacks dropped the first set and eventually suffered their first loss of 2014, falling in three sets to Hawai'i in front of a crowd of 5,941 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Despite the loss though, the Lumberjacks (9-1) played their best set of the night in the final stanza, providing the team with some positive aspects to build on heading into a rematch with the Rainbow Wahine Saturday night in front of traditionally one of the top volleyball environments in the nation.
"This was our program's first experience in an environment like this and we didn't handle the ball the way we typically do, on first and second contact in particular," said head coach Ken Murphy. "It created a lot of situations where Hawai'i had big advantages in rallies and I give them credit. They played well and took advantage of things we gave them."
Sophomore Lauren Jacobsen had the hot hand for the Lumberjacks, recording 12 kills as the only 'Jack with double-figure kills. In the first set, she totaled five of her dozen kills but an 8-2 run by Hawai'i proved to be the difference after NAU took a quick 4-2 lead. The run put the Rainbow Wahine ahead, 12-7, and they later extended their advantage out to 17-9 before putting the Lumberjacks behind 1-0 in the match for the first time all season.
Much as the story would be the entire night, the second set was close through the early points as senior Sydney Kemper's kill put the 'Jacks behind by just one, 10-9. A corresponding 6-0 run by Hawai'i gave the home team a seven-point lead though and the Lumberjacks failed to get within five points the rest of the way, sending them into the intermission with their backs against the wall, down 2-0.
Three consecutive kills by junior Janae Vander Ploeg was part of a quick-striking NAU attack out of the break, forcing an immediate Hawai'i timeout. Another kill by Kemper out of the timeout gave the Lumberjacks their biggest lead of the match, 5-1, but the Rainbow Wahine answered with the next four points to tie the score. Vander Ploeg notched her fourth kill of the set a point later, putting NAU out front 6-5, but the lead would be the last for the Lumberjacks.
NAU fought hard in attempt to extend the match and trailed 12-11 before Hawai'i won eight of the next 11 points to take a 20-14 lead. The Lumberjacks made one last push though, first with a block by Jacobsen and junior Payton Bock before senior Hannah Hill's service ace forced a Hawai'i timeout with NAU's deficit trimmed to three points. The Rainbow Wahine would finish the match on a 5-1 run and snapped the Lumberjacks' third-longest win streak to open a season in school history.
Although NAU hit a season-low .137, it posted its best hitting percentage (.162) in the final set and limited Hawai'i to just a .200 clip.
"We'll be better (tomorrow) because we'll be familiar with the environment," Murphy said. "There are a handful of adjustments we can make; trying to defend a little better and being in better positions on the court. In the third set, we felt things were going our way and if we can carry that into tomorrow and keep building on that, we'll continue to learn more about ourselves as a team and try to have a better result."
Sophomore Jensen Barton recorded 25 assists and Vander Ploeg led the Lumberjacks with 12 digs. Senior Taylor Stephens notched a team-best three blocks.
