Box Score CHICO – Some opponents are plainly tough matchups for your team and Chico State has been this type of foe on the volleyball court for Humboldt State this season.
 
For the second time, the Wildcats were able to pounce on the Lumberjacks but in sweeping fashion on Friday night's contest.
 
Chico State (15-13/12-9 California Collegiate Athletic Association) has been one of the best league teams down the season stretch and it showed by taking sets of 25-22, 25-18 and 25-14 for the 3-0 match win.
 
"Tonight the team played great at times, but as has been the case all year we make too many errors at crunch time," said HSU head coach Kelly Wood.  "We also had very slow starts in all three sets, which makes it very difficult to be successful against teams as good as Chico.  The tempo of their offense was a little too much for us to handle."
 
The Chico State tempo helped them build early leads to go with HSU's slow starting engine.  The Wildcats enjoyed an early seven-point, 9-2, first set lead and a 10-4 margin in the first half of the second set.
 
On the visitors' night, Ashley Owen and Symone Hayden downed 10 kills apiece.  Owen added four block assists with Hayden hitting a team-best .348 with 11 digs, a pair of aces and one assist.
 
Sam Siebert handed out 23 assists with three digs, three kills and one ace.
 
Kelci Renshaw dug 10 attacks on the Jacks' defense.  Alex Hasenstab recorded four block assists and Kaitlyn Dunaway added seven digs and three kills.
 
Trailing 13-6 in the first set, the Jacks (11-17/6-15 CCAA) mounted a charge with eight-straight points to edge ahead, 14-13, with two Owen kills.  Chico State held on with eight of the final 13 points for the 25-22 win.
 
Down by six points in set two, HSU battled back again.  The visiting squad pulled to within a point, 15-14, off kills by Owen and Courntey Debrunner and an ace by Siebert.  For the second set in a row, the Wildcats ended tough by outscoring the Jacks, 10-4, for the 25-18 final.
 
After an early tie at three, Chico State built its third early lead of the night, 13-7.  Following one HSU point, the home club netted the next six points and never looked back to close out the match, 25-14.
 
HSU will attempt to finish it building season on a high note tomorrow night when it plays at Cal State Stanislaus starting at 7 p.m.