ARCATA – For the second time in a row, Humboldt State had to face a nationally ranked team in a California Collegiate Athletic Association game Friday night.
The Jacks held early leads in the first and third sets, but couldn't carry the momentum throughout each set, losing 25-19, 25-20, 25-18 against No. 12-ranked UC San Diego.
"We played well up until the last part of the set," said head coach Sue Woodstra. "We have to finish sets off stronger. We get up to the high teens, but we need to get to another gear."
HSU drops to 4-7 overall and 2-7 in the CCAA, while the Tritons improve to 10-1 overall, 6-1 in conference action.
Humboldt State's biggest lead of three points came in the first set off three errors from UC San Diego, putting the Jacks up 9-6.
Defensively,
Brooke Ferguson helped the Jacks stay in the match with 13 digs.
Oceana Matsubu and
Alexa Rosendale followed closely behind with 12 digs a piece. The pair also had 11 and 7 kills, respectively.
"I thought we dug pretty well tonight," said Woodstra. "We just didn't push through when we needed to offensively."
The Tritons found that push to take the match in three sets, led by Kaitie Condon on offense with 12 kills and Roxanne Brunsting's 15 defensive digs.
Rosendale started the Jacks' third set with one of her two aces of the night, before HSU and UCSD went back-to-back in points.
The Tritons broke the yo-yo scoring after 17 points with the help of the Lumberjack offense's attacking errors to put them at 22-17. Matsubu's kill gave the Jacks 18 points, but the Tritons sealed the game with kills by two different players, giving UCSD the sweep.
HSU travels to San Francisco to take on the Gators Friday, Oct. 7, before heading further south to face the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos on Saturday, Oct. 8. Both matches are set for 7 p.m.
