ARCATA — Lack of aggression proved costly for the young Humboldt State volleyball team in a 25-13, 25-19, 25-21 loss to Chico State. HSU fell to 3-3 overall and is 0-2 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, while Chico State improved to 5-2 and 1-1 in league.

Boxscore

While the Jacks sat back and waited for the match to come to them, the Wildcats came out swinging. Jessica Leek got her team going with a pair of kills and a service ace, helping Chico State build a comfortable lead on the way to the one-sided first set win.

"We're hesitant on balls hit in between players," HSU head coach Sue Woodstra said. "Somewhere, I have to figure out how to get a more aggressive style of play out of this group.

In the successive sets, the Jacks seemed to threaten to make a match of it, but Chico State maintained its pressure while HSU couldn't consistently respond. A kill and a service ace by Oceana Matsubu provided Humboldt State with a 13-11 lead before the Wildcats eased ahead again, finishing the set with Sable Villaescusa's kill.

Matsubu finished with a match-high 14 kills, but no other teammate reached double digits. Brook Ferguson led in digs with 12 and Allison Drobish helped reject four shots for block assists while Matsubu contributed three block assists and one solo.

Chico State was led offensively by Mackenzie Snyder's 13 kills and 11 from Leek. Jacqueline Johnson finished the evening with 10 kills, five of which came in the second set.

Humboldt State's .121 hitting percentage reflected its struggles, with 15 attack errors. Chico State made 19 attack errors, but posted a .232 percentage by putting away 45 kills to the Jacks' 26.

"It's early in conference play, and all we need to do is to take a couple of steps forward," Woodstra said. "We need to work on being more assertive in serve-receive, defense, all areas."

The Lumberjacks make their first roadtrip of the 2011 season next week, traveling to play Sonoma State and Cal State East Bay on Friday and Saturday, respectively.