ARCATA - Following a tough southern trip swing against a pair of ranked opponents, Humboldt State volleyball will try to get on track in the familiar surroundings of Lumberjack Arena to wrap up its home slate.
The Lumberjacks saw their losing streak increase to five matches after taking on the two road opponents last weekend in #12 UC San Diego and #14 CSU San Bernardino.
HSU will have another difficult pair of matches this week in California Collegiate Athletic Association action when #16 Sonoma State comes to town Thursday night and San Francisco State over the weekend on Saturday evening.
HSU falls to two ranked CCAA teams
The Lumberjacks were unable to sustain a strong early charge against 12th-ranked host Tritons on last Friday night.
HSU held tough in the opening two sets but could not pull out wins in either, 21-25 and 16-25. UC San Diego finished off the match after intermission in rather dominating fashion by a 25-8 total for the 3-0 straight set tally.
HSU amassed a season-low total of 28 kills on the night.
Ashley Owen and Symone Hayden accounted for eight kills apiece.
Despite coming out strong from the intermission, HSU was unable to sustain its momentum against its second ranked foe in as many nights last Saturday.
Behind 2-0, HSU would not trail in set number three for a 25-17 win and pull within a set. The 13th-rated CSU San Bernardino club would regain its footing with a key six-straight points for a 25-13 fourth set for the 3-1 victory.
HSU received double-digit kill nights from both Kaitlyn Dunaway and Owen with 13 and 12, respectively.
Siebert lone Jacks' senior
With the final home match on Saturday night, the Jacks will honor its lone senior member in setter Sam Siebert.
Despite only being with the squad this season, Siebert has been a key figure in the team's first double figure win season over the past seven years.
The Sebastopol, Calif. native has added a veteran stability to the HSU offensive attack.
Siebert ranks eighth in the CCAA with 9.50 assists per set over her 86 sets played.
The senior posted a season-best 54 assists in a five-set defeat to Cal State Monterey Bay and added 17 digs in the same match.
For the year, Siebert has amassed 818 set assists to lead the team, while third in service aces (17) and fourth in digs (205) and blocks (25).
She also had a .292 attack percentage with 40 kills in only 96 swings from her setter position.
Owen and Renshaw in rare Jacks company
HSU has not been the strongest programs on the court in the past five years but the growth of the 2013 edition can be seen in yet more ways.
Outside hitter Ashley Owen and libero Kelci Renshaw are challenging statistical marks for the Jacks. Owen has already produced the most kills by a player since 2008 with 366. The Owen kill amount bettered current assistant coach Ocean Matsubu's 350 downed two years ago. Owen's teammate Kaitlyn Dunaway has a good chance of bettering the 350-kill mark for the season as well as she stands with 309.
Renshaw can record the most service aces over the same time period. Her 38 aces is only five behind last season's best total of 43 by Alexa Rosendale.
Both Renshaw (386) and Dunaway (382) should go over 400 digs apiece after the final two home matches.
HSU's CCAA 11th weekend home action foes...
vs. #16 Sonoma State (21-5/14-4 CCAA)
(Thu. at 7 p.m. in Lumberjack Arena)
Series History: SSU leads 38-22
Last meeting: SSU won 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-21) in Rohnert Park on Oct. 12 -- The Seawolves showed strong at home in three games where they hit .368 ... For SSU, Caylie Seitz hit 21 kills at a .459 rate and Madelyn Densberger downed 11 kills with three block assists ... HSU was paced by 13 kills from Ashley Owen, 10 kills and 10 digs from Kaitlyn Dunaway and two aces from Kelci Renshaw.
Last HSU win: 3-2 at Sonoma in 1st meeting of 2007
*Coached by 12th-year Bear Grassl
*Went 2-1 in three matches last week with a 3-0 win at San Francisco State, a 3-0 loss at Chico State and a 3-0 victory at Cal State Stanislaus.
*The loss at Chico snapped a four-game win streak ... SSU is 6-3 in the last nine matches
*Over the last six matches, the Seawolves have won 15 of 20 sets
*Caylie Seitz rates in three CCAA individual categories -- 4th in kills per set (3.96) while 5th in kills (356) and 5th in hitting percentage (.330)
*Devin Shaver is 2nd in aces per set (0.41)
*Rachel Andrews sits 5th in blocks per set (0.97)
*Nicole Gragnola also is 5th for digs per set (4.63)
vs. San Francisco State (12-14/7-11 CCAA)
(Sat. at 7 p.m. in Lumberjack Arena)
Series History: SFSU leads 41-19
Last meeting: HSU won 3-1 (14-25, 25-23, 27-25, 25-23) at San Francisco on Oct. 11 -- In a tightly-played match, HSU rallied from a struggling first set to take three two-point sets for the victory ... The Jacks received big offensive nights from Owen (17 kills and 4 block assists) and Symone Hayden (16 kills and 21 digs), while Renshaw (23 digs) and Dunaway (21 digs) took care of the defense ... SFSU had three double figure kills producers with Meagan Wright (3 BA) and Jazmine Williams having 11 apiece, while both Kelly Ostello (5 D and 2 total blocks) had 10. Jessica Nicerio dug 25 balls on defense.
Last HSU win: Last meeting
*Coached by 1st year coach Julie Muhe, who coached last three years at Briar Cliff (IA) College
*Gators have split their last 8 matches by going 14-13 in the 27 sets.
*Setter Jacquie Brice is 2nd in the CCAA with 10.41 assists per set (989 assists in 95 sets).
*Key players are: Meagan Wright (261 K, 77 TB), Jaclyn Clark (216 K), Jessica Nicerio (27 aces, 362 digs)
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