Box Score BELMONT – It is not a recommended winning formula, but it worked for the fourth time in five occasions.
 
Humboldt State spikers, again, dropped the opening set before taking the next three games to defeat host Notre Dame de Namur in their first of two Saturday matches in the Route 92 Tournament.
 
The Argonauts (2-5) outlasted the Lumberjacks, 25-23, in the opening game.
 
As has been the case in all four wins, HSU bounced back to take the next three sets, 25-18, 25-18 and 25-21. The fourth win surpasses the Jacks' 2012 total where the team had a tough 3-26 season.
 
The HSU hitters recorded their best hitting percentage of the first six matches at .297 with 62 kills in 145 attacks and 19 errors. The Jacks had a set best .387 in the third game and another .325 mark in the fourth.
 
Ashley Owen may not have led the Jacks in kills, but her 13 seemed to come at opportune times. She also blocked two attacks and had three digs.
 
Kaitlyn Dunaway continued to lead in the kills department with 17 while hitting .310 to go with 19 digs, three assists and an ace.
 
Symone Hayden chipped in 10 kills, 10 digs and two blocks. Courtney Debrunner put down nine kills with a .350 hitting percentage and team-high four blocks.  Alex Hasenstab rounded out the frontline with six kills, two blocks and a dig.
 
Sam Siebert posted a solid effort with 49 assists, six kills, 12 digs and a trio of blocks.
 
Kelcie Renshaw dug 13 balls, while handing out five assists and lining a pair of aces.
 
Erin Mitchell, Colleen Noonan and Jacquelyn Callaway combined for 11 digs, a kill and an ace.
 
HSU started the afternoon matchup with a quick 5-1 lead. Notre Dame would answer back with the same production for the first of 12 ties at 6-6.
 
At 23-23, the Argonauts put down a kill before being given the final point of the 25-23 win on a Jacks' attack error.
 
The second match stayed tight at 9-9 in the first half.
 
A Dunaway ace and back-to-back kills from Hayden and Debrunner gave HSU a 12-9 lead it would not give up.
Notre Dame pulled back to within a point, 13-12, before HSU posted four tallies in a row off home hitting errors for a 17-12 score.
 
Owen gave the Jacks their largest lead, 21-14, on a kill before Debrunner helped finish the first game for the 25-18 victory.
 
Renshaw laced an early ace for an 8-3 HSU lead in the early third set. The Argonauts would come back to tie the game at both 10-10 and 14-14 but giving the lead back to the Jacks with two miscues.
 
At 16-15, HSU would gain separation. Following a home attack error, Dunaway and Hayden powered kills before another Renshaw service ace opened a 20-15 margin.
 
Ahead 22-18, Debrunner, Dunaway and Owen put down the final three points for a second 25-18 HSU win.
 
Hayden helped HSU be the first team to 10 points, 10-6, in game four with a kill. The four-point lead would evaporate as Notre Dame tied the game at 10-10 on a block.
 
Tied at 18, Notre Dame gave HSU the lead on an attack error before Owen pounded two consecutive kills to make it 21-18.
 
After two Argonaut points, Owen added two more kills around one from Siebert for a 24-20 margin. Siebert hit the final kill to seal the 25-21 game four win and match for HSU.
 
HSU will wrap up the weekend in a 5 p.m. bout against Holy Names.