ARCATA — For the Humboldt State volleyball team, the 2012 season has had its share of disappointments, but the Jacks will look to put the past behind them and finish the season with some positivity. The Jacks have two matches left, against Sonoma State and San Francisco State, and hope to give two seniors an exit they deserve.

"It's been a tough year," said head coach Sue Woodstra. "It's been a struggle to try to get everybody on the same page at the same time. We have two more matches left and we'd love to send our seniors off with a win, but they're some pretty tough matches."

HSU first faces Sonoma State on Thursday, before taking on San Francisco State in the final match of the season Saturday night. Both matches are scheduled to start at 7 p.m., with Saturday's competition being dedicated to the two Lumberjack seniors: Alexa Rosendale and Allison Drobish.

Head-to-Head

The Jacks fell in both previous matches against Sonoma State and San Francisco State in three sets. The Seawolves dominated an early 25-6 set and powered through the match to put the all-time series at 36-22 in their favor. 

SFSU also proved to be too much for the Jacks as the Gators grabbed the 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-20) win to put the series at 40-18 HSU. Despite the loss, and the fact that many players were battling injuries, Woodstra was pleased with her squad's performance against the Gators.   

Multimedia

Both matches will feature live stats and video footage. Fans can follow the play-by-play action at http://sidearmstats.com/humboldt/wvball/scoreboard.aspx. Video footage will be broadcasted through the Jacks' U-Stream account at http://ustre.am/2fLC.

Seawolf Notes

Sonoma State enters Thursday's match with a 20-8 overall record, 14-6 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, putting the Seawolves tied for second in the conference rankings. ... As a team, SSU averages 14.6 kills per set, while limiting its opponents to 11.5 kills per set. Allyson Sather leads the Seawolves in the attack with a 3.26 kills per set average (.255 attack percentage), followed by Caylie Seitz with 3.15 kills per set (.216 attack percentage). ... Sonoma State's 169 team aces places them third in the conference leader board, behind SFSU and HSU. Six Seawolves have put down 20 or more aces, led by Madelyn Densberger and Hayley Ross. The duo both have 29 aces, with Ross serving at a .921 percentage. ... Regan Richert leads the blocking game for SSU, picking up 72 total blocks to help her team average 2.0 blocks per set.

Gator Notes

San Francisco State will first face Cal Poly Pomona, but currently holds the other second-place spot in the CCAA standings with an overall record of 19-8, 14-6 in conference action. ... As a team, the Gators average 13.8 kills per set with a .207 attack percentage. Kelly Ostello leads the team, averaging 3.37 kills per set (and .223 attack percentage). ... Three Gators have registered 30 or more aces, led by Iris Tolenada with 40 aces. Megan Johnson and Jaclyn Clark follow with 32 a piece. San Francisco State has picked up 195 aces to lead the CCAA in serving, while limiting its opponents to almost 100 less at 99 aces. ... Defensively, SFSU averages 17.4 digs per set with Jessica Nicerio grabbing most of the digs to average 4.71 digs per set.

Lumberjack Notes

Humboldt State comes off a long week on the road, playing three matches in four days. The Jacks managed to grab one set on the road, coming from behind to beat Cal State Dominguez hills 28-26 in the first set. HSU couldn't build on the momentum and fell to 3-24 overall, 1-19 in the CCAA. ... As a team, the Jacks average 10.4 kills per set, but surrender 12.7 kills per set. ... Alexa Rosendale leads the JAcks with 3.23 kills per set and averages 3.45 digs per set, defensively. ... Rosendale also leads the Jacks with 37 aces, bringing HSU's total to 179, which puts the squad in second place on the CCAA leader board for services. Four other Lumberjacks have put down 20 or more aces: Tiffany McCray (27 aces), Ashley Neale (26 aces), Kelci Renshaw (23 aces), and Sarah Wilber (21 aces). ... Allison Drobish leads the blocking effort for HSU, grabbing 71 total blocks, including 19 solo efforts. ... McCray leads the defensive side of the game for the Jacks, picking up 425 digs—which puts her eighth in the HSU record book for digs in a single season.

The Seniors

Five-year Lumberjack Allison Drobish—who redshirted her first year—has already left her mark in the Humboldt State record book. To date, Drobish has accumulated 342 blocks to put her tied for second in career total blocks. Hall of Fame member Jennifer Lundeen holds the other 342 career block record, while Danielle Wells takes the top spot with 363 career blocks. 

"Allison has taken some pretty big strides in her five years here—which for a 6-foot-2-inch person, it's easy to do," said Woodstra. "She's moved up in the ranks in blocking and I'm sure she'll get some blocks in the weekend. I don't know if she'll be able to get up to No. 1, but that's kind of a testament to how hard she works."

Alexa Rosendale, who transferred from Portland State at the start of last season, has proven to be an offensive threat for the Jacks, often leading the team in kills. Rosendale has registered 14 double-doubles this season and is currently on a six-match streak. This season alone she has put down 317 kills, needing 42 more kills to enter the HSU record book for kills in a single season. Her career total is up to 582 kills.

"We've only had Alexa for two years here, but she's such a steady player," said Woodstra. "She's just a complete, all-around player and a great teammate. She's really been a joy to coach."

Woodstra's Words

"Both teams are tied for second in the conference. It'll be quite a challenge for us, but I fully believe we can compete any beat any team in the CCAA. We just have to play at our best, but we are capable of doing that. ... Both Allison and Alexa are very hard workers. They just go out and go after it every day. ... We're certainly going to emphasize that [the last time we played at home, we won]. The feeling we had here after that was pretty good so we're going to try to do that again. We're playing on our home court so we're going to try to represent HSU well. ... Sonoma State is just a good all-around team. They have two dominant outside hitters, but at the same time they also have two good middle blockers and two good right-side hitters. They're just consistent and steady. They let their outside hitters go up and pound the ball. ... Both teams serve very well. We'll definitely have to try to be on top of serve receiving, which is a big part of volleyball. We're also going to try to match them. We've been up in the serving stats as well and will try to balance both teams out."