HAYWARD —  Humboldt State was unable to sustain the momentum it gained with a third-set win, falling short of a comeback in Friday's 25-21, 25-20, 20-25, 25-23 loss to Cal State East Bay.

Boxscore

Suffering its second straight road loss and fourth consecutive overall, Humboldt State fell to 3-5 on the season and 0-4 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. CSU East Bay improved its record to 6-1 in all matches and 3-0 in conference.

Humboldt State's Alexa Rosendale topped her team with 14 kills, and Oceana Matsubu added 13 for the Jacks. Rosendale also contributed a team-high 18 digs, Bailey Kotas had 33 assists, and Brooke Ferguson came up with a team-best 27 digs.

Katie Allen, with 15 kills, was one of three Pioneers in double digits. Nicole Boyle added 13 kills and 18 digs, and Kitona Offord had 12 kills.

The Pioneers came out swinging in the opening set, grabbing an 11-5 lead and forcing the Jacks to call a timeout. Matsubu put down a kill to interrupt the run, and the Jacks surged back into contention, pulling within three at 14-11 on a CSUEB attack error.

Humboldt State remained within striking distance, but couldn't close the gap any further. After HSU closed within three again on Ashley Neale's kill and a Pioneer error, CSU East Bay capitalized on a Lumberjack error to take the first set.

In the second set HSU moved out to a 10-6 lead, taking advantage of Pioneer errors while utilizing the offensive efforts of Neale and Allison Drobish, who both contributed kills. But the Pioneers scored seven of the next eight points to move ahead, 13-11 on Morgan Hirzel's kill.

Momentum changes continued, CSUEB grabbing a 17-14 lead on a pair of kills by Offord. The Lumberjacks allowed the Pioneers to build a seven-point lead before rallying to within four again at 24-20. But the teams exchanged service errors, the final one on HSU ending the set.

Ferguson's defensive efforts and the combined attack of Matsubu and Rosendale helped HSU stay even with the Pioneers early in the third set. Humboldt State finally powered past CSUEB, Rosendale's consecutive kills deciding the outcome.

After trailing by as many as seven points in the fourth set, the Lumberjacks held off match point four times to pull within one at 24-23. However, Boyle's kill ended it in the Pioneers' favor.

The Lumberjacks play their third road match of the week Saturday, heading to Seaside to play CSU Monterey Bay. Following that contest, they'll come home for four straight matches, beginning with Friday's contest against Cal State Los Angeles.