CARSON – Humboldt State almost let Cal State Dominguez Hills sneak away with the Toros' first California Collegiate Athletic Association win. Almost. The Jacks rallied from behind to pull out the 3-2 (18-25, 22-25, 25-18, 25-20, 15-10) win on the road Friday night at CSUDH. 

The win lifts HSU to an overall record of 8-13, 5-12 in conference. With the loss, the Toros drop to 1-20 overall, 0-17 in the CCAA.

Oceana Matsubu led the attack for the Jacks, collecting 21 kills and three aces on the night. Alexa Rosendale contributed 19 kills of her own, hitting .269 in the match. Allison Drobish seven blocks to help the defensive play for HSU.

The Jacks trailed from the beginning in the first set, starting out 0-4 before they got their first point from Matsubu. CSUDH, led by Elizabeth Krieger with 22 kills on the night, came out firing and didn't let HSU gain any momentum as the Toros grabbed the first set 25-18.

Humboldt State came closer in the second set, but CSUDH came from behind 6-8 to tie the game at 8-8 off an error from Rosendale and a service ace from Olivia White. The set was tied up again at 9-9 when the Toros took off in a scoring spree to grab the second lead and never let go of it. 

The Jacks came close, dropping a five-point lead to two at 23-21 off errors from the Toros, but it wasn't enough to pull away with the set, leaving the Jacks down two sets heading into the third set.

HSU finally found its footing in the third set and strung together a nine-point run to come from behind 7-4 to take the lead at 13-7. In the run, Matsubu had two service aces and a kill, while Rosendale had three kills. The Jacks kept the lead and finished the set 25-18.

Still with their backs against the wall, the Jacks built momentum from the beginning and pulled to a six-point lead twice. One of Matsubu's 20 kills of the night sealed the game at 25-20 to force a deciding fifth set.

The final set started out back and forth for the two teams. HSU started to pull away with a five-point lead at 10-5, but the Toros were not ready to roll over. CSUDH dropped the lead to two at 10-8, but couldn't take the lead from Humboldt State. A block from Ashley Neale and Merry Ellen Ackema sealed the come-back victory for the Jacks.