MOSCOW, Idaho—The Vandal volleyball team concluded their season-long four-match homestand with a 3-2 defeat at the hands of the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks on Saturday. Idaho stayed with NAU the entire night but was unable complete the upset over the defending Big Sky champs.

"If you look at the statistics we were in every category," head coach Debbie Buchanan noted. "For me I think that is really assuring for where our team is at right now. We still just have to get healthier. I think that is part of our problem. We have a few kids banged up right now, especially in the middle. That hurts our offense and blocking. I do think we are further ahead of where we were a few weeks ago."

The Vandals did a good job of spreading around the offense on Saturday. Setters Haylee Mathis and Megan Ramseyer combined for 54 of Idaho's 60 assists. Sarah Sharp led Idaho with 12 kills. Mathis, Kaela Straw and Becca Mau each totaled 11 kills. Mathis and Mau both finished the night with their third double-doubles of the season. Mathis' totaled 28 assists and Mau recorded a career-high 19 digs.

"I thought we were definitely able to move the ball around tonight," Buchanan added. "Our distribution was much better. I thought DeVonne [Ryter] did a much better job. When this team peaks and we get towards the end of the season, you are going to see our distribution be even better. We are slowly getting better but we are not quite there yet."

Idaho (7-11, 2-4 BSC) started hot right from the get go. The Vandals hit .314 percent in the opening set, holding NAU to .150 on the attack. Redshirt freshman Paige Rupiper recorded five of her seven total kills in the set, helping Idaho to a 25-20 win.

Northern Arizona (15-4, 5-1 BSC) pounced right back. The Lumberjacks used a 3-0 run to gain a 9-5 advantage. A second 3-0 spurt from NAU put the lead at 12-6. The Vandals cut NAU's lead down to one at 16-15, using two kills from Mau to go on a 4-0 run. Rupiper evened the scoreboard at 19 late in the set. Northern Arizona closed the set with a 6-2 run to even the match with a 25-21 win.

NAU continued with the momentum early in the third set, getting out to an 8-3 lead. The Lumberjacks were hitting .833 percent to open the set, forcing Idaho to burn a timeout. A 4-0 run midway through the set really put the Lumberjacks in control, leading 15-6. Idaho would cut the gap to four late in the set, 21-17, but would not get closer as NAU took the set 25-18.

The Silver and Gold would not give in in the fourth. NAU opened up with a 4-2 lead, but the Vandals responded with a 5-0 run to take a 7-4 lead. Kills from Sharp and Ryter helped Idaho to four consecutive points and a 16-10 advantage. A Torrin Crawford kill helped Idaho start a 3-0 run, gaining a six-point advantage. Back-to-back NAU errors, capped by a Mathis and Ryter block, handed Idaho the 25-17 win.

The final set was back and forth to start. The match was tied five times in the first 10 points. Tied at five, the Lumberjacks ran off a 6-0 run to dampen Idaho's hopes. The Vandals continued to fight to the end. A late 3-0 run closed the gap to 14-11. NAU would outlast the Vandal run, taking the final set 15-11.

Lauren Jacobsen led the match with 17 kills for NAU. She also had 19 digs. The Vandals out-hit NAU, .243 to .241 percent. Idaho also held the advantage in blocks and digs.

The Vandals concluded the homestand with a 1-3 record. Idaho hits the road next week at Weber State, before returning home against Eastern Washington.

"It will be good for us to go on the road," Buchanan explained. "I feel like we have been home for a while. We are going to have to let some kids get healthy. The record is not what we want right now. We are really going to have to push to win this conference tournament. We are going to have to get some wins so we can make the tournament. I think we will continue to peak and continue to get better."

Fans can stay up-to-date on all things Idaho women's basketball by following the team on twitter, @IdahoVolleyball.