ARCATA, Calif. -- All 15 Sonoma State University volleyball players who made the trip to Arcata saw playing time Friday evening, and despite a slow start, the Seawolves regained their rhythm and pulled out a 3-1 victory (28-26, 13-25, 25-19, 25-17) over Humboldt State.  Sonoma (10-3) remains unblemished in the CCAA standings at 4-0, and is the first team in the conference to reach 10 wins overall.

After starting off with conference play 3-0 and with wins against two tough Southern California teams, a win Wednesday against rival San Francisco State University, a four hour drive North, and an early start on a Friday afternoon the Seawolves had every excuse in the book lined up.  Unfortunately for the home Lumberjacks the Seawolves were not going to be sidetracked.  

In the first set, it was a battle as Sonoma State had to find a way to win.  Down 17-11 in the first set things were not looking good for Seawolves.  The Seawolves went on an impressive run scoring on the next seventeen of the next 26 rallies.  Within that run Humboldt State had set point twice, but could not put the visitors away.  In those opportunities sophomore outside hitter Caiti Wiesner who had struggled relative to many matches this season came up with a massive kill and one of her nine for the night.    Senior middle hitter Kelsey McIntire also saved the Seawolves first set with one of her nine kills to hold off the home team.  With the scores tied at 26-26 Junior Middle Hitter Morgan Annala came up big with a kill, and an attack error by the home team sealed the first set for Sonoma State University.

Early in a volleyball season, while on the road it is always hard to mentally stay focused going into a second set especially after a close set win or loss.  Unfortunately for the Seawolves they ended up on the wrong side of this leger being dominated in every aspect.   Down early Sonoma State struggled to get off the mat losing a set by the largest margin this season.  Senior outside hitter Alex Lolland for the Lumberjacks who put down seventeen kills on the evening and led her team was a big part of the dominance en route to finishing with a .355 hitting percentage.

In a big third set Sonoma State showed why they were picked to finish first in the North Section of the CCAA conference.  Sonoma State came up big when things weren't going well, but flipping the tables on the home team.  Sophomore libero Megan Bohorquez came up big from the service line early by establishing a five point run helping the Seawolves jump out to a 6-2 run.  This was exactly what the visitors needed in the set, and match where many things were going the home teams way.    The Lumberjacks still couldn't be shaken as they ultimately tied the score at 9-9 with runs of their own.  With the Lumberjacks holding a brief lead Sonoma State went on a massive run scoring eleven of the next fifteen serves closing out the set and stealing all the momentum that Humboldt State once had.  

In the fourth and final set Sonoma State had substantial early leads and was able to keep the home team at bay for most of the set with the Lumberjacks never getting any closer than three points.

Offensively this was the first match where the Seawolves did not have multiple players with double digit kills this season.  It was though a match where the blocking and serving were the ultimate deciding factor.  The Seawolves were dominant behind the service line, putting up their largest ace total since their Sept. 7th match vs. Hawaii Pacific University when they totaled eight aces. McIntire led the charge as she had five of the teams seven aces on the evening.  

After the match Head Coach Bear Grassl commented "We were very happy that we withstood the pressure in a very tough match Humboldt State put on us. We bounced back with very clean play, and Kelsey (McIntire)'s five aces really set the tone down the stretch."

With another win in conference play under their belt, it is major rival Chico State who looms on the horizon.  Friday evening, September 29th will be a showcase of the two top contenders in the North Division.  Sonoma State will be hosting the Wildcats in the Wolves' Den with match time set for 7:00 PM.   Chico State was predicted to finish 2nd this year in the CCAA, and was last years North Division champion.