Rohnert Park – In a conference opening thriller the Seawolves fought back from a 2-1 (25-21, 24-26, 25-27) deficit to win the final two sets (25-17, 15-9). In a series that stems back to 1981, the Seawolves lead the Jacks 48-14.
In Tuesday night's California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) opener Sonoma tallied 82 points to Humboldt's 66, along with leading the match in kills (68 to 47), assists (66 to 41), and digs (69-57).
Redshirt freshman
Jenna Miller had a season-high outing with 52 assists on the night.
The trio of
Emily Eaton,
Amy Trephan, and
Caiti Wiesner recorded double-digit kills. Eaton led the pack with 15 while both Trephan and Wiesner had 14 kills.
The Seawolves started the match off with kills by Eaton, Trephan, and Wiesner to take an early lead over the Jacks. As Humboldt strung along timely aces and a kill together the Seawolves kept hold of its lead, as they registered multiple kills by
Tate Battistini and an ace from Wiesner. The Jacks closed the gap collecting six back to back points to make it a 20-18 set. Sonoma never lost its lead and capped off the 25-21 win with an ace by Weisner.
Sonoma started the second set with kills from
Adriana Baysinger and Trephan to improve the Seawolves lead to 4-1. The set remained close, with the lead bouncing from team to team, the Seawolves broke through the one-point set to take the first significant lead of the evening (22-20). The Jacks Emma Flewell tied the set 24-24 with a kill, then the Jacks capitalized the momentum and strung three-points together to take set two 26-24.
The match tied 1-1, Humboldt approached the third set with a 12-6 lead over the Seawolves. Baysinger and Threphan blocked an attack by the Jacks to put a halt to their momentum, then Eaton recorded a pair of kills to make it a 14-10 match. The Seawolves found themselves trailing 21-15 when Eaton, Trephan, and Wiesner each notched a kill to make it 21-19. The Jacks answered back with two-points to strengthen its lead 23-19, as the anticipation built the Seawolves came out in full force. Sonoma took advantage of a handful of Humboldt errors, while Battistini and Wiesner both recorded kills to give the Seawolves its first lead if the set 24-23. A kill from the Jacks to tied it up 24-24, Sonoma
Emily Eaton helped the Seawolves to 25-24 with a kill. Outdone by the Jacks who took advantage of two Sonoma errors and a kill by Juliana Bertolucci to win set three 27-25.
As the Seawolves entered set four down 2-1 to the Jacks, they took a hold of the lead 10-5, never losing hold of its lead Sonoma improved 22-13 after Trephan notched two kills and Eaton found one. The Seawolves held on to a lead the entire set, winning 25-17 when the Jacks suffered a blocking error.
With an 8-1 lead, the Seawolves set the tone for the deciding set. Leading the set till the end with a 15-9 victory over the Jacks of Humboldt State.
The Seawolves continue
CCAA play Saturday September 8th, against Cal State Monterey Bay at 7:00 p.m.
