The Lumberjacks fight back from an early 2-0 deficit, but lose their first 5-game match of the season in a 3-2 loss to Big Sky foe Eastern Washington.

Things just didn't go in the Lumberjacks' favor Thursday night.

In the first of Northern Arizona's last three home games -- in which the Jacks face the top three teams in the Big Sky Conference -- NAU just couldn't get any kind of bounce to go their way, and despite a valiant effort in fighting out of a 2-0 hole that Eastern Washington put them in, the Jacks' comeback effort fell short in a 3-2 (25-22, 25-23, 25-27, 22-25, 15-10) loss.

NAU head coach Craig Choate said there were a few things that contributed to the Lumberjacks' (15- overall, 6-6 BSC) loss, but getting behind early and not getting the little advantages were two of the most prominent.

"Being behind in the first two games wasn't because of a lack of effort," Choate said. "These guys play hard and for us the problem is when you're a little team that plays hard you have to find more than two cylinders, and tonight we only had (three) kids with decent numbers. That won't work."

Lauren Campbell (17 kills), Lexi Sullivan (13) and Sydney Kemper (12) led the Jacks' offense, but didn't get a lot of help from the rest of the team, something that Choate said hurt NAU.

Also playing in their home gym and not getting a single bounce was another side effect of the Jacks' inability to get any momentum going in their favor.

"I thought (the Eagles) played really good," Choate said. "This is our gym and we didn't get a single building play. Usually we own the balls in the rafters, we own the balls off the net, and we got none of them. To top that off they played fabulous and we just couldn't get ahead."

Eastern Washington jumped out to its early lead behind the play of junior outside hitter Cora Kellerman, who led all scorers with 21 kills. The Lumberjacks' defense didn't have an answer for the EWU's attack, but NAU was able to fight back to take the third and fourth sets, forcing the team's seventh 5-game match this season.

"Everybody in this conference is beating everybody else, so that fact that (the match) went to five (games) and it was tough didn't surprise me," Choate said.

Thursday's was the first 5-game match that the Jacks lost in 2011, which was a result of the team's slow start and the fact that NAU had a lot of errors. The Jacks had eight serving errors and 32 on the attack.

"We have to gamble a little bit so we've been trying to serve tougher," Choate said. "In the second game we missed two serves (when the score) was in the 20s, and you just can't do that, but it's tough for the girls to try to be aggressive and then tone it down."

Junior setter Kelli Dallmann -- who finished with 45 assists, four kills and four block assists -- said it was a tough match to lose after a 2-match winning streak.

"We were close, but not close enough," Dallmann said. "We played well we just have to start off stronger. We need to go harder sooner."

That would have especially helped in the fifth game, because after The Eagles (13-11, 9-4) got a lead NAU could do little to stop them. "In game five you have to separate yourself by about two points, because then there isn't a lot of time to come back," Choate said. "They got the advantage and it's hard to catch up to a team that's playing that well."

Senior middle blocker Katie Bailey said the Jacks played well, but Eastern Washington played better.

Bailey and Dallmann had a solid night, as Bailey had eight kills and six block assists, four of which she teamed up with Dallmann for.

"We haven't had a good game at the net in the last couple of weeks, and tonight it clicked with us," Bailey said. "We started to get back into it and blocking is one of our stronger points when we're on."

Bailey added that she and Dallmann have been tweaking their attack, and it showed against the Eagles.

"Kelli and I are connecting right now and it's working out for us right now," she said. "We go a little faster and lower with our sets, and that's a big thing for our hitters."

NAU hosts Portland State, the No. 1 team in the conference Saturday, a team the Jacks have had little success against in past years.

"We have a chance to split with Portland State if we win Saturday, and they're one of those teams we weren't beating before (this year)," Choate said. "We didn't have a good offensive night (Thursday) and we still gave ourselves a chance to win in five, that's what we take from (that match). We were down 2-0 and nobody gave up and we came back to almost win."

Saturday's game starts at 7 p.m. at the Rolle Activity Center, and admission is free.

Bill Harris can be reached at bharris@azdailysun.com, or 556-2251.