ARCATA – Looking to build off their last match's succes, the Humboldt State Lumberjacks head south for non-conference action at the Route 92 Showdown hosted by Notre Dame de Namur and Cal State East Bay on Friday (in Belmont) and Saturday (in Hayward). The Jacks will play four games in two days, hoping to get the last of the kinks out before California Collegiate Athletic Association play starts on Sept. 12.

Head-to-Head

To open the tournament, HSU faces Northwest Nazarene on Friday, Sept. 7, at 11:30 a.m. The Jacks and Crusaders have played against each other 14 times, with Humboldt State only grabbing one victory in the past. 

Friday night, the Jacks take on co-host Notre Dame de Namur at 7 p.m. Last year, the Argonauts came up to the HSU Volleyball Tournament and fell in three sets to the Jacks, putting the all-time series at 2-1 in favor of HSU.

Saturday's action switches venues to Cal State East Bay, pinning the Jacks up against the Urban Knights of the Academy of Art at 11:30 a.m. The teams have only faced each other twice, which each squad grabbing a victory. Last year, Humboldt State swept Academy of Art in three sets at the HSU Volleyball Tournament.

To conclude the tournament, HSU will take on one of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Div. II's newest teams, Fresno Pacific. The Sunbirds enter their first season as an NCAA institution after a successful National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics run. Saturday's match at 4:30 p.m. will mark the first time the two squads will face each other.

Multimedia

Fans can follow play-by-plays via the Notre Dame de Namur and Cal State East Bay athletics websites. Friday's action will be found at http://www.sidearmstats.com/ndnu/wvball/xlive.htm, while Saturday's feed can be seen at http://www.sidearmstats.com/csueastbay/wvball/scoreboard.aspx.

Opponent Notes

Northwest Nazarene comes off a successful 3-1 showing at the Seaside Invitational Tournament held by Point Loma Nazarene. The Crusaders beat Cal State Stanislaus 3-1 (25-21, 25-18, 24-26, 25-19), Point Loma Nazarene 3-0 (25-22, 25-11, 25-19) and Cal State Dominguez Hills 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-21), before falling in three sets to Azusa Pacific (19-25, 17-25, 24-26). ... As a team, Northwest Nazarene averages 12.5 kills per set, with a .267 hitting percentage, and 14.5 digs per set. The Crusaders have 25 service aces on the season and have posted three times as many blocks as their opponents (27.5:9.0). ... Becky Flores leads the team with 50 kills, averaging 3.85 kills per set, and has blocked nine times. Heather Allen leads with 13 blocks and has a .433 hitting percentage.

Notre Dame de Namur is still looking for its first win of the season as it co-hosts the tournament. The Argonauts dropped 0-3 after falling in three sets to both Cal State East Bay and Findlay at the Alaska-Fairbanks Tournament. Host school Alaska-Fairbanks beat Notre Dame de Namur 25-9 in the first set and although the Argonauts battled back to a 26-24 victory in the second set, the Nanooks took the match 3-1. ... As a team, the Argonauts post a .054 attack percentage, averaging 8.2 kills per set. Defensively Notre Dame de Namur averages 12.3 digs per set, led by Michelle Hines with 3.5 digs per set. Kawai Robins-Hardy leads the team with 10 blocks, while Brooke DeMignel averages 3.00 kills/set.

Academy of Art boasts an even 2-2 record entering the weekend's tournament. The Urban Knights beat Dominican College 3-1 and Maryville (Mo.) 3-0, before falling to Alaska-Anchorage in three sets and Minnesota State-Mankato 3-1 at the Seaside Invitational. ... The team averages 9.8 kills/set (with a .114 attack percentage), 14.7 digs/set, and 2.3 blocks per set. ... Taylor Suchy and Angela Heath lead the attach for the Knights, averaging 3.38 kills/set and 3.36 kills/set, respectively. Suchy totalled eight aces over the weekend and dug 61 times to keep her team in each set. Janelle Burnett also posted 61 digs for a 4.36 dig/set average. Lindsay Elgin and Holli Kaina lead the blocking game for the Urban Knights, picking up 17 and 13 blocks, respectively.

Fresno Pacific enters its first NCAA Div. II season with impressive NAIA background. The Sunbirds posted a 912-227 overall record in the NAIA, making 21 national championship appearances and taking home the title six times. FPU has claimed 11 of the last 12 Golden State Athletic Conference championship titles and four of the last five NAIA National Championship titles. ... The Sunbirds enter the tournament with a 3-1 record after beating Montana State-Bilings 3-1, Chaminade 3-0 and Hawaii Pacific 3-2, but fell in a close 3-2 match to Seattle Pacific. ... Collectively, the Sunbirds average 11.6 kills per set, 15.2 digs per set and 1.8 aces per set. Their blocking game is their strong point as they boast a 2.9 block/set average. ... Kathleen Anderson dominates the blocking game for her team, totaling 29 blocks over the four matches. Rupia Inck follows with 15 blocks of her own, along with 34 digs and 59 kills. Mikayla Tucker provides a threat at the line after already grabbing nine service aces in the young season.

Lumberjack Notes

Humboldt State looks to break even as it enters the season with a 1-2 record. The Jacks fell their first two matches to Dominican  (2-3) and Cal Baptist (1-3), despite grabbing the first sets. HSU let a 2-0 lead slip in its last match against Holy Names, but held on for the victory with a tight 16-14 final set. ... The Jacks picked up 36 service aces in their first three matches, led by Sarah Wilber's nine and Ashley Neale's eight. Wilber also leads the team with a .438 attack percentage and 99 assists. Merry Ellen Ackema and Allison Drobish lead the blocking game with 10 and nine blocks, respectively. Defensively, Tiffany McCray leads Humboldt State with 52 digs. Alexa Rosendale tops the leader board for the Jacks with 52 kills. Freshmen Kelci Renshaw and Danielle Carlson had impressive showings in their collegiate debuts. Renshaw picked up four aces and had 12 assists in eight sets, while Carlson made seven kills with a .385 hitting percentage and assisted on one block.

Woodstra's Words

"I think we found some things out this weekend. We know what we need to work on more. It was very positive. ... I thought our serving was pretty good. We made some adjustments during the matches and got several people out on the court, which is what pre-season matches are all about. ... We're going to try to pass better this weekend. We have a pretty busy week after we play four matches and we're still working on finding where people fit in best. ... We need to pay more attention to our first contacts. ... Part of us coming together is not finishing the match. We talked about it a bit. Our determination needs to come out a little more. ... Northwest Nazarene has been strong the past couple years. They're huge. We don't know a whole lot more about them, but they're posting pretty good numbers. ... Fresno Pacific will be challenging. They have some awfully good players and are blocking almost three blocks a set. They're not huge, but they're not small. They have great experience stepping into Div. II play. ... We will have some good competition this weekend. We'll have to serve tough and keep people off the net."