Northern Arizona will face Idaho State in the quarterfinal round of the Big Sky Conference volleyball tournament Wednesday at 5 p.m.
The 2024 edition of the conference tourney will take place from Wednesday to Friday on the campus of Sacramento State. The top eight teams from the conference's regular season standings have advanced to the tournament, with Northern Arizona entering as the No. 7 seed.
The Lumberjacks wrapped up their regular season with an overall record of 14-13 and a conference mark of 7-9. They secured their spot in the tournament with back-to-back sweeps of Eastern Washington and Idaho in their final home matches in Flagstaff.
Offensively, Northern Arizona is led by Taylor Jacobsen, who ranks second in the conference with 3.83 kills per set. Hannah Stoddard follows in sixth with an average of 3.10 kills per set. Libero Millie O'Ketter leads the conference in digs with 4.75 digs per set on average and is ranking 46th nationally.
Idaho State completed the regular season with a 20-8 overall record and an 11-5 mark in conference play.
The Lumberjacks faced the Bengals most recently on Nov. 16 in Pocatello, Idaho, and the former secured a 3-2 victory. Northern Arizona has won nine of its last 10 matches against Idaho State, leading the all-time series 44-40 since 1979.
Football
Northern Arizona's player Alex McLaughlin has been tabbed the Big Sky Conference's Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season and the third time in his career, the league office announced Monday.
The sophomore defensive back was instrumental in Northern Arizona's 30-18 victory over Eastern Washington on Saturday at the Walkup Skydome. In addition to racking up a career-high 13 tackles, McLaughlin came up with an interception on EWU's final drive to seal the victory for his team.
This season, McLaughlin ranks second on the team and 13th in the Big Sky with 85 total tackles. He has racked up 5.5 sacks -- good for third in the Big Sky -- along with six tackles for loss, four pass breakups, three quarterback hurries, an interception and two forced fumbles that were both recovered for defensive touchdowns.
The Lumberjacks earned an at-large berth to the FCS Playoffs and will take on 15th-seeded Abilene Christian in the first round on Saturday.