Northern Arizona Lumberjacks guard Trent McLaughlin has been named the Big Sky Conference Preseason MVP heading into his final year with the Lumberjacks.
McLaughlin finished the 2023-24 campaign as the league's fourth-highest scorer -- the top three have graduated or transferred -- leading the Lumberjacks with 16.6 points per game.
With 1,151 minutes in 32 starts and 33 appearances, McLaughlin is coming off his first-ever Big Sky All-Conference honors, being the first Lumberjack named to the team since the 2020 season.
McLaughlin ranked sixth in the conference last season with a team-high 48 steals as well, he and will return as the Big Sky's leader in the category this season.
Alongside McLaughlin's individual honor, the Lumberjacks have been picked fifth in both the coaches and media polls as announced by the Big Sky on Wednesday afternoon. The preseason prediction marks the team's highest spot since 2015 and is three positions better than last year.
Last year, the Lumberjacks went 14-19 (7-11 Big Sky).
The 2024-25 campaign begins on Nov. 4 vs. Park Gilbert at Rolle Activity Center.
2024-25 Big Sky Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll.
- Montana
- Montana State
- Northern Colorado
- Weber State
- Northern Arizona
- Portland State
- Idaho
- Idaho State
- Eastern Washington
- Sacramento State
2024-25 Big Sky Men's Basketball Preseason Media Poll
- Montana State
- Montana
- Weber State
- Northern Colorado
- Northern Arizona
- Eastern Washington
- Portland State
- Idaho State
- Idaho
- Sacramento State
Volleyball
The winning streak continued for Northern Arizona on Friday. The Lumberjacks took on the Idaho Vandals, winning in three identical sets 25-19, 25-19, 25-19, in Moscow, Idaho. They have won their last three Big Sky Conference games, moving their record to 10-9 with a 3-5 record on Big Sky play.
"I think our team grew a lot tonight and continued building confidence in ourselves," Lumberjacks coach Ken Murphy said. "We leaned more on our offense than usual, but we have some very good attackers, and it was good to see contributions from so many players. Our setters Keira (Hall) and Melia (Barlow) did a great job of putting our hitters in good situations."
The Vandals took the first point of the third set and ran with it, taking an 8-2 advantage. Kylie Moran entered the match and immediately made an impact with three kills as part of a 5-1, bringing the Lumberjacks within a point at 13-12. They finished it off for the sweep later.
"I especially liked how we kept our composure in the third set after being down at the beginning," Murphy said. "Kylie came in and gave us her normal steady passing and defense while adding some timely and important kills for us."
The Lumberjacks will take on the Eastern Washington Eagles on Saturday in Cheney, Washington.