ARCATA — Seeming to gain composure as the day progressed, Humboldt State won two matches at its own Humboldt State Volleyball Tournament on Saturday, defeating both Academy of Art and Notre Dame de Namur in three straight sets.
HSU vs. AAU Boxscore
HSU vs. NDNU Boxscore
The victory improves the Lumberjacks to 3-1 on the young season following its home tournament. With a roster that features a combined nine freshman and sophomores, HSU head coach Sue Woodstra enjoyed the Jacks' rapid progress through three days of action.
"We're still young, but we have a little experience behind us now," Woodstra said. "The players showed sharper execution and handled the scramble plays well, too. They were tactical, attacking the areas we identified. Those are signs of maturity."
In the day's opening match against Academy of Art, Humboldt State escaped with tight wins in the first two matches before grabbing a slight cushion to win the third. The final score was 28-26, 26-24, and 25-19.
Oceana Matsubu was again the Jacks' workhorse, leading the team with 16 kills while also coming up with 11 digs.
Cheyann DePrue had nine kills, and
Tiffany McCray led with a team-high 12 digs.
Humboldt State was on fire in its final match of the tournament, needing only 1 hour, 9 minutes to dispatch Notre Dame de Namur, 25-14, 25-7, 25-16. As a team, the Jacks posted an impressive .355 hitting percentage, led by Matsubu's .368 mark forged with 17 kills.
"We only had seven hitting errors in 93 attempts," Woodstra said. "That's a big step forward."
Also providing a steady presence for HSU was sophomore setter
Bailey Kotas, who finished the day with 60 assists. She also added instant offense with a team-high combined total of seven service aces.
Cal State East Bay posted the best tournament record, going 4-0 for the weekend. Humboldt State and Central Washington were both 3-1, Academy of Art and Saint Martin's 1-3, and Notre Dame de Namur was winless at 0-4.
Humboldt State leaps into California Collegiate Athletic Association action this week, hosting Cal State Stanislaus on Friday and Chico State on Saturday. Both matches get underway at 7 p.m. in Lumberjack Arena.
