CHICO, Calif. -- The Cal Poly Humboldt volleyball team faced off against NorCal rival Chico State from Art Acker Gymnasium on Saturday evening. Despite falling in the first two sets, the Jacks forced a fifth set and came up just short of completing the reverse sweep comeback, falling to Chico 2-3 (27-29, 22-25, 26-24, 25-22, 12-15).
Awelina Fakalata set a program record for most kills in a single match, as she tallied 29 kills to go along with 21 digs.
Match Summary
The first set began with a rollercoaster of events for both Humboldt and Chico. The hot start of Humboldt resulted in a 17-9 lead, but the Jacks couldn't tame the Wildcats for much longer as Chico tied the set at 22 points. With both teams unable to secure a two-point lead, the set continued past 25 adn Chico was able to pull away a 29-27 win.
The Jacks went out in front of Chico once again to start the second set with a score of 10-6. The Wildcats scored five of the next six points to tie the score at 11. There were five lead changes over the next several points before the score was tied again at 20. Two Wildcat errors put Humboldt up 22-20, but Chico scored five straight points to take set two 25-22.
Set three continued with the same theme of back-and-forth scoring, as there were eight lead changes and 11 tied scores throughout the set. With the score tied at 23,
Awelina Fakalata and
Lindsey McLaughlin each had a pair of kills to help Humboldt score four of the final five points, leading to a 26-24 win to avoid the sweep.
Humboldt didn't go away easily as they started to shift the momentum in their favor during set four. Down 14-16, the Jacks scored four straight points to go up 18-16 and then never lost a lead the rest of the way. Fakalata and
Graysen Trupp closed the set out with back-to-back kills and claimed set four with a score of 25-22 to force a fifth set.
Chico went up big early in set five, as they jumped out to an 11-5 lead. With their backs up against the wall, Humboldt seven of the next eight points to tie the game at 12 and take the Acker Gymnasium by surprise. The surging Lumberjack comeback came to an end, as Chico scored the final three points and went on to win 15-12 over Humboldt.
NOTABLE STATS
- Awelina Fakalata set a program record with 29 kills in a single match (.397 hitting percentage), she also tallied 22 digs for her fifth double-double of the season
- Mina Barajas had 20 digs
- Kyra Slavik had 51 assists and 11 digs for her third double-double
- Lindsey McLaughlin had 17 kills and 13 digs for her fourth double-double
RECORDS
Cal Poly Humboldt (4-8, 1-3 CCAA)
Chico State (4-4, 1-3 CCAA)
UP NEXT
Friday, the Jacks will take on Cal State Monterey Bay (3-8, 0-4 CCAA) from The Kelp Bed in Seaside, Calif. First serve is set for 5 PM. All games can be streamed on the
CCAA Network. For more information on Cal Poly Humboldt Volleyball, please visit
humboldtathletics.com and follow us on all social media platforms.
