Big Sky Conference standings

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- Despite a match-high 22 kills from Lauren Kissell and a season-best 21 kills from Sloan Lovett, Sacramento State fell at Northern Arizona, 3-1 (25-17, 18-25, 25-18, 25-19) on Thursday evening in a matchup of two of the best volleyball teams in the Big Sky Conference.

Both teams entered the match with substantial winning streaks as the Hornets (24-6, 11-4) had their eight-match streak halted while Northern Arizona (24-4, 14-1) has now won 13 consecutive contests.

With one match remaining in the regular season for all 12 teams in the conference, NAU was able to clinch the Big Sky's regular season title with tonight's win. The Lumberjacks will host next week's single-elimination Big Sky Tournament (Nov. 19-21). If the season ended today, the Hornets would be the No. 4 seed as Idaho State (12-3) won tonight and jumped ahead of Sacramento State in the South Division. The winner of the North Division will get the No. 2 seed.

Regardless of what happens Saturday at Southern Utah, the Hornets will enter the tournament no worse than the No. 4 seed and no better than the No. 3 seed. To jump back up to the No. 3, Sacramento State will have to win at Southern Utah on Saturday and see Idaho State fall on the road at Weber State.

The Hornets had dealt Northern Arizona its only conference loss of the season with a 3-1 victory in Sacramento on Sept. 26. Since then, NAU has not lost a match. Although Sacramento State is 33-14 all-time against Northern Arizona, the Hornets have now lost six straight meetings against the Lumberjacks in Flagstaff.

Sacramento State had more kills (58-52), assists (57-50) and digs (73-70), but the Lumberjacks had 12 aces, including four in the first set and three in both the second and fourth frames. NAU hit .562 in the fourth with 18 kills and no errors in 32 swings. In addition, the Lumberjacks hit .297 with just nine errors in 145 attacks while the Hornets hit below .200 for the first time in 10 matches and just the fifth time all season. Sacramento State hit .199 and had 24 errors in 171 attacks. The Hornets were also limited to a season-low 3.0 team blocks.

None of the four sets in the match were very close as the Hornets hit .286 in their victorious second set, and NAU hit .325, .235 and .562, respectively, in its victorious frames.

The most potent outside hitter combination in the Big Sky, Lovett and Kissell combined for 43 of the Hornets' 58 kills this evening. Kissell's 22 kills accompanied a .262 hitting percentage, an ace and four digs. Lovett, who had six kills in seven swings in the fourth set, finished with 21 kills, a .264 hitting percentage and three digs. She eclipsed her previous season high of 18 kills, set on three different occasions. Kissell has now posted double figures in kills in 19 straight matches, and reached the 20-kills plateau for the eighth time this year.

Besides Kissell and Lovett, no other Hornet hit better than .200 during the match. Morgan Stanley finished with eight kills, two aces and 12 digs, Madeline Cannon had five kills, setter Kennedy Kurtz had 53 assists and 11 digs, Lexie Skalbeck finished with a team-high 17 digs and true freshman Skyler Takeda had a season-high 12 digs. The double-double for Kurtz was her 10th of the season.

Sophomore Shannon Boyle played briefly in the fourth set, making her first appearance in 15 matches as she works her way back from injury.

For Northern Arizona, Janae Vander Ploeg led the way with 20 kills, 13 digs and a .292 hitting percentage while Lauren Jacobsen had 14 kills, seven digs, two blocks and a .314 hitting percentage.

The Hornets conclude the regular season on Saturday at Southern Utah at 6 p.m. PST. The Hornets defeated the T-Birds earlier this season in Sacramento by a 3-2 score. That was one of just two five-set matches Sacramento State has played all year.