Northern Arizona picked a bad night to make a late run at the Big Sky tournament. It was Senior Night inside the Hornets Nest and one in particular artfully made her mark.

Parents and fans honored the defensive specialist Mallory Hook, setter Natalie Melcher and right side hitter Shannon Arts ?” who led all players with 10 kills ?” before the match.

NAU was the first to strike in game one, but the Hornets wouldn’t allow them to take another lead for the remainder of the game. Junior middle hitter Lindsay Haupt was benched with back spasms. Haupt leads the team in blocks per game at 1.53 is also second on the team in both kills per game and hitting percentage.

Although Haupt could only cheer from the sidelines Sac State still found its offense. As a team Sac State finished with a hitting percentage of .229.

On the other side of the net, the Lumberjacks couldn’t lay the wood. The team had two players with hitting percentages in the negatives for most of the match. NAU finished the match with a team hitting percentage of .096.

The Hornets came into the third game with a bit too much confidence and gave up several unforced errors. The Lumberjacks had their best run of the afternoon, keeping Sac State within arms’ reach until 24-24.

“It’s like they think they have it won,” said head coach Debby Colberg. “It seems to be a chronic problem for players.”

Junior Leah Klemenhagen posted nine kills without an error and led the team with a hitting percentage of .529 with 4 block assists. Klemenhagen put away match point with a quick tip over the net, catching Northern Arizona off guard.

“Leah came in and did a real nice job today,” Colberg said. “Arts also did a pretty good job in the first two games.

The Hornets took the axe to the Lumberjacks in three straight games, 30-18, 30-18, and 30-25. Colberg’s team is now 13-1 in the Big Sky conference and secured their first place bid in the conference tournament after last weekend’s play.

Colberg has brought a Big Sky tournament championship back to Sacramento each of the last three years. The previous three tournaments have been hosted in Cheney, Wash., home of this year’s No. 3 seed Eastern Washington.

The tournament begins on Thursday, Nov. 17. Sacramento State will not play on the first night; the No. 1 and 2 seeds have a first round bye.