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NAU women eager for game setting

By DANIEL BERK
Sports Editor
Friday, November 06, 2009

Before the NAU women's basketball team takes the floor for its exhibition opener tonight against New Mexico Highlands, coach Laurie Kelly is going to have her squad treat the game like a regular season one, from the start of the day through the game.

"We want to simulate a true game situation for them," Kelly said. "We'll do a pre-game meal and we'll have a shootaround. We want them to start getting in that routine." The Lumberjacks will get their first chance to get their routine down today against the Cowboys at 5 p.m. at Rolle Activity Center.

The Jacks are coming off a disappointing 9-21 season and were picked to finish last in the Big Sky Conference this year. Still, that doesn't lessen Kelly's excitement for the season at all.

Kelly has seen a lot of things she's liked during practice so far and is anxious to see how it translates to a game situation.

"I don't know what expect to see," Kelly said. "I want to see where we're at. It's a measurement. This gives us one more week until it counts.

"We've had a lack of intensity at some points and have had some really bad turnovers. We've really been trying to emphasize the value of each possession."

NAU did lose three senior starters in guards Sade Cunningham and Janelle Matthews and wing Katie Schafer, but do bring back some talent and also brought in some fresh faces.

Kelly said she's excited to see how junior Jenna Galloway plays. Kelly singled out Galloway for having an excellent offseason and for having some strong performances in practices so far.

Also back is the team's second leading scorer from last year, Lauren Hoisington, who averaged 10.3 points per game, along with guard Caty Huntington, who started 11 games last year as a freshman.

The Jacks should get a strong boost this season from freshman Amy Patton, a heralded recruit out of Phoenix, but Patton won't play today. She's suspended for the opener for undisclosed reasons.

NAU will open its regular season Friday, Nov. 13 at Pepperdine.

NAU SOCCER

NAU returns to the Big Sky Championship for the second-consecutive year, hoping to repeat as conference champion and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Lumberjacks will open play against host Portland State today at 5 p.m., preceded by the first semifinal between Eastern Washington and Idaho State. Friday's winners will meet for the Big Sky title on Sunday at Noon.

"We're excited to get into the conference tournament, which is a precursor for getting into the NCAA Tournament," coach Andre Luciano said. "We're disappointed in last Friday's game and I'm disappointed in how I prepared the team as a coach. I think we're a team that's better with our backs against the wall. We have a lot of unfinished business right now that we need to take care of."

The Jacks and Portland State will be meeting in the Big Sky Championship semifinals exactly one year to the day that the teams met in the semifinals last year. That meeting was in Ogden, Utah, where the Lumberjacks claimed a 1-0 victory to advance to the championship game. NAU would defeat home-standing Weber State, 2-1, two days later to claim the Big Sky title.

Northern Arizona was the only team to beat Portland State during the Big Sky regular season this year, as the Lumberjacks 1-0 win on October 11 in Flagstaff was the lone blemish on a 4-1-2 conference mark for the Vikings.

Sophomore Jenna Samora broke a scoreless tie with just four minutes and five seconds remaining in regulation to lead the Jacks to a win over the Vikings.

NAU goalkeeper Tori Rocke made three saves for the shutout while Lewis made five saves in taking the loss. NAU held an 8-7 advantage in shots for the game and a 6-3 edge in shots on goal while taking two corner kicks and only allowing one.

"It was a different part of the season," said Luciano about the Lumberjacks first meeting with the Vikings. "Playing them at home during the first week of conference play is a different scenario."

NAU VOLLEYBALL

NAU 3, Montana State 1

Kelli Dallmann led all players with 16 kills and a .419 hitting percentage as the NAU women's volleyball team defeated Montana State at the Rolle Activity Center on Thursday.

The Lumberjacks (8-13, 5-7 Big Sky Conference) won by scores of 25-14, 25-20, 21-25, and 25-22.

"I told them in the locker room I am their biggest fan," coach Craig Choate said. "But I was not thrilled with the last two games of this match. They started enthusiastic and played hard, then we got control, and you could sense a difference."

After Montana State (3-19, 1-11) stole the third set, the Lumberjacks rebounded in the fourth frame and hit .280 to end the match. In all, three Lumberjacks posted double dig kills: Dallmann, Ashley Ames, and Jen Wilson. NAU had five players with more than 10 attempts hit over .200 for the match.

Dallmann recorded her eighth double-double with the 16 kills and 21 assists. She also recorded nine digs narrowly missing her third triple-double.

Ames and Wilson each added 10 kills while Jana Mays-Robinson recorded a team-high 23 assists. Anna Gott cleaned up on the defensive end leading all players with 17 digs.

The Lumberjacks will play Montana on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at Rolle. For NAU to gain ground in the Big Sky Conference, they need to defeat Montana who is currently fourth in the league standings.

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