TURLOCK, Calif. – The Humboldt State volleyball team traded off sets on Friday night before ultimately claiming victory in five. The Lumberjacks (5-4, 3-2) defeated Stanislaus State (8-3, 2-3) to earn their first five-set victory of the year (25-14, 24-26, 25-18, 18-25, 15-12).

"Our girls played their hearts out tonight against a very much improved Stanislaus State team," said Head Coach Kelly Wood. "There were some incredible rallies in the match. We were able to finish more of the long rallies, which we had not been doing well before tonight."
 
After a back-and-forth opening to the match, Humboldt State put on a show. With the game close at 11-10, the Jacks closed out the set on a 14-4 run to win comfortably, 25-14. This is the third time this season that HSU has held an opponent to fourteen points in a set.

Dating back to Tuesday night's sweep over Cal State San Marcos, the Jacks took a four-set streak into the second game. The second game was tight throughout, as evidence by the 12 different tie scores within the set. With HSU down, 21-24, the Jacks rattled off three straight to even the score at 24 apiece. The comeback effort could not be sustained, and Stanislaus State collected the final two points to win the set, 26-24.
 
The third set looked like it would belong to the Green and Gold from the start. HSU jumped out to quick leads of 7-3, 11-5, and 14-6, before the Warriors put together five straight points to tighten the gap. Humboldt responded with two separate 4-0 runs and closed out the set, 25-18.
 
Humboldt State appeared to have every intention to end the game in four sets. After doubling up Stanislaus early, 10-5, and maintaining the five-point cushion through 13-8, it looked like this would be a closeout game. The Warriors had other ideas, and put together a run of eight straight points, closing out the set collecting 12 of the final 14 points.
 
The Jacks entered Friday's match winless in matches that went to a decisive fifth set. This was the night that their streak would be snapped, as the Green and Gold did just enough to reach the 15-point plateau first. Neither team tallied more than two consecutive points in the final set, keeping the score line close, before HSU finally pushed ahead from 13-12 to claim the match.
 
"Other than the collapse that took place in the end of the fourth set, we played solid volleyball throughout the match," said Wood.
 
Symone Hayden (15), Alex Hasenstab (12), Kaitlyn Dunaway (11), and Katherine Rifilato (11) all recorded double-digit kills for the Jacks. Hayden also added four service aces. Alondra Haro had a game-high four blocks and Haley Biles led the match with 24 digs.
 
Humboldt State will have a quick turnaround and return to the court on Saturday night to face Chico State, another 3-2 team in the CCAA. The match will begin at 7 p.m. in Chico's Acker Gym.