ROHNERT PARK, Calif. — The Humboldt State volleyball team could taste the road upset, but Caylie Seitz helped Sonoma State outlast the visitors in five sets, 3-2, on Friday night.
 
Seitz pounded a game-high 25 kills including the final two kills of the third set and four more in the match-deciding fifth set as the Seawolves captured the win (25-13, 25-27, 25-22, 23-25 and 15-9) over the Lumberjacks.
 
"Tonight was very hard fought, but a very disappointing five-set loss," said HSU Head Coach Kelly Wood. "Our lack of consistency hurt us tonight. We had a big lead that slipped away in the third."
 
Following the tough opening set and prevailing in extended play in the second set, the Jacks saw multiple seven-point leads slip away in the third set defeat, 22-25. HSU (4-3/1-2 California Collegiate Athletic Association) forced a fifth set after a middle set run to a 25-23 fourth set win.
 
Ashley Owen paced the HSU offense with 14 kills, while two of her teammates Kaitlyn Dunaway and Nicole Bewley had big nights. Dunaway posted a double-double of 13 kills and 16 digs. Bewley added 11 kills, hit .333 and contributed seven total blocks.
 
Symone Hayden and Alex Hasenstab chipped in 11 and nine kills, respectively.
 
Kat Rifilato handed out a team-high 27 assists to go with six digs, four block assists and two aces. Erin Mitchell had 20 assists and 16 digs. Haley Biles also finished with a season-high 30 digs.
 
Tied at 11, Sonoma State (4-3/2-1 CCAA) went on a 14-2 run to finish the opening set for the win.
 
HSU evened the match. Hayden killed a point for a 20-16 lead and Owen kept a three-point margin, 23-20, off her own kill. The Seawolves netted five of the next six points and would lead 25-24. After two home miscues, Rifilato killed the winning point.
 
Leading 20-18 following a pair of seven-point early advantages, HSU saw Sonoma State rattle off five-straight points to lead 23-20 in the third set. Hasenstab and Owen pulled the Jacks to within a point, 23-22, before Seitz killed the final two points and 25-22 final.
 
Down 14-11, HSU posted six points in a row off a pair of Hayden kills for a 17-14 fourth set lead. The home team came to within a point, 24-23, but Bewley downed the final point to help HSU force a fifth set.
 
Off a Biles ace, HSU led 4-3 early in the fifth set. Seitz killed the next point to start three Sonoma State points in a row for a lead it would not give up, before the 15-9 final.
 
HSU will complete its eight-match road schedule to start the season Saturday night in a 7 p.m. start at San Francisco State.