LAUI, Hawaii – As Thursday turned to Friday in Hawaii, the Humboldt State women's volleyball team (2-0) claimed its second four set victory of the early season. The Lumberjacks defeated tournament hosts BYU Hawaii (1-1), 25-21, 21-25, 25-20, 25-19.
"In the second match of the day our team did not play to our potential, but we were able to pull together and get the win," said Head Coach
Kelly Wood. "The tempo of BYU Hawaii's offense was faster than we've seen and it took us some time to adjust to it."
The Jacks started the match quickly, jumping ahead 7-2 to start the first set. The Seasiders of BYU Hawaii responded, and brought it back within two, 11-9. The opening set lead was never surrendered, and HSU held on to win 25-21.
Much like the opening match of the day, Humboldt State could not find the answer in set two. While trailing 11-10, BYU-H rattled off eight consecutive points to build a cushion that could not be caught. Despite four straight breaks on set point, the Jacks could not overcome the deficit and dropped the set 25-21.
HSU only trailed once in the third set, 2-1, before setting the pace for the rest of the way. The separation came when
Nicole Bewley tallied one of her game-high 19 kills to put the Green and Gold up 19-17, starting a stretch of four unanswered before ultimately winning the set 25-20.
Symone Hayden's service ace in the final set capped off five straight Lumberjack points and gave Humboldt the 21-15 advantage. The two sides traded the final eight points of the match, but it was Hayden's kill from
Jessica Lammers that sealed the victory.
"Once again our toughness and our desire to win allowed us to persevere against a well-coached BYU-H squad," said Wood. "
Nicole Bewley was unstoppable tonight. She hit .543% with 19 kills."
HSU starts the season at 2-0 for the 14
th time since 1974's inaugural season and for the second consecutive year under Wood.
The Jacks will take the remainder of Friday off to rest before playing another double-header on Saturday. Humboldt State is scheduled to play Simon Fraser at 1:30 p.m. and Chaminade at 10:00 p.m. in Honolulu.
