ARCATA — (Sept. 7) Sophomore outside hitter Gillian Heydorff pounded down a match-high 21 kills as No. 19 nationally ranked Chico State claimed a 30-22, 30-21, 30-25 over Humboldt State in California Collegiate Athletic Association volleyball action Friday.

The Lumberjacks drop their conference opener and fall to 4-5 overall while the Wildcats improve to 8-3 overall and 2-0 in the CCAA.

Humboldt stuck right with the Wildcats through most of the first game, holding a 15-14 lead midway through the game. utilizing sharp offensive play, Chico State broke open a 24-19 lead late in the game and held on for a 30-22 final.

The Jacks game out firing in the second game, racking up a 6-0 lead before Kelly Smiland knocked down a kill for the Wildcats to break the streak. Once again, Humboldt's last lead was 15-14 before Chico took control for the nine-point win.

“We hung with (Chico) for a while, but just didn't finish,” said interim HSU head coach James Kealalio. “We started every game well, but towards the end we would let (Chico) get a decent run on us and we couldn't catch back up.”

The third game was much of the same as the Jacks sat within two at 26-24, but back-to-back kills by Lindsay Macias, one from Smiland and one from Morgan Hammerstrong effectively ended the match.

“If we play like we did tonight, and finish, we should be fine tomorrow (against Cal State Stanislaus),” said Kealalio.

Olivia Solomon had eight kills for HSU while Katie Norkunas chipped in seven. Kelly Catherina had a team-high 17 digs and Danielle Wells tallied four blocks.

Humboldt will be looking for its first CCAA win of the season when it hosts Cal State Stanislaus at 7 p.m. Saturday in the East Gym.

#19 Chico State vs Humboldt State (Sep 07, 2007 at Arcata, Calif.)

Chico State def. Humboldt State 30-22,30-21,30-25

Chico State (8-3, 2-0 CCAA) (Kills-aces-blocks) - HEYDORFF, Gillian 21-1-0; MACIAS, Lindsay 9-1-0; TRIFELETTI, Crystal 6-0-1; JOHNSON, Whitney 6-0-2; SMILAND, Kelly 5-0-1; CAPE, Megan 3-0-0; HAMMERSTROM, Morgan 2-0-0; BRICK, Erica 1-0-1; STRINGFELLOW, Lacy 1-2-0; ASCHENBRENNER, Steph 0-2-0; Totals 54-6-3.0. (Assists) - BRICK, Erica 33. (Dig leaders) - STRINGFELLOW, Lacy 18; MACIAS, Lindsay 11; SMILAND, Kelly 11; BRICK, Erica 9

Humboldt State (4-5, 0-1 CCAA) (Kills-aces-blocks) - SOLOMON, Olivia 8-0-0; NORKUNAS, Katie 7-1-2; BRINEY, Mallory 5-1-2; WELLS, Danielle 5-0-4; BERNDT, Megahn 4-0-0; SHANNON, Liz 0-4-0; CATHERINA, Kelly 0-1-0; Totals 29-7-5.0. (Assists) - SHANNON, Liz 28. (Dig leaders) - CATHERINA, Kelly 17; NORKUNAS, Katie 10; BRINEY, Mallory 9

Site: Arcata, Calif. (East Gym)
Date: Sep 07, 2007   Attend: 301   Time: 1:30
Referees: Tyrone Toloy, Kevin Long

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