CHICO, Calif. – The Chico State volleyball team didn’t take long in putting Friday night’s humbling three set loss to Sonoma State behind it – in their final home match of the season, Makenzie Snyder, Gillian Heydorff and Jessica Leek combined for 41 kills to power the Wildcats to a 25-20, 25-14, 28-26 sweep of the Humboldt State Lumberjacks Saturday night at Acker Gym. The ’Cats improved to 22-8 on the year – the most wins in a season by a Chico State volleyball team since 1993 and the most since Cody Hein took over the program seven years ago.
More importantly, Saturday’s win moved the Wildcats to 13-7 in the California Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAA), and combined with San Francisco State’s loss to Cal State East Bay, Chico State sits alone in fifth place in the conference standings as they continue to battle for an NCAA Championship Tournament berth. Humboldt State dropped its eighth straight match to fall to 7-21 on the year and 3-17 in CCAA play.
The Wildcats wasted little time in gaining the upper hand in the match’s first set, racing out to an early 10-3 lead on the strength of kills by Snyder, Heydorff, Leek, Jacqueline Johnson and Kayla Baumgardner. Chico State was still up 19-12 when Humboldt State began to chip away at the deficit, outscoring the Wildcats 8-4 to pull to within 23-20. The ’Cats quickly put the set away on a Heydorff kill and a Lumberjacks attack error to post the 25-20 victory.
Humboldt State jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second set, but that would be as good as it would get for the Lumberjacks, as Chico State ripped off a 12-2 run to go up 13-7 and take command of the contest. Humboldt State could get no closer than three the rest of the way, as the Wildcats scored 11 of the last 14 points to win going away, 25-14. Snyder and Leek led the ’Cats with five kills apiece.
The third set was much tighter, with 16 tie scores and four lead changes. Each team battled back and forth, with Chico State squandering a 10-7 advantage and Humboldt State letting a 17-15 lead slip away. The Lumberjacks held the lead late and had the Wildcats at set point, but a service error knotted the score at 24-all and gave Chico State new life. The Wildcats went on the offensive, and though Humboldt State staved off two match points, Snyder and Heydorff connected for back-to-back kills to bring home the 28-26 win and complete the ’Cats sweep of the match.
Snyder posted a double-double to lead the Chico State attack, producing 15 kills and 17 digs, while Leek finished with 13 kills and a pair of service aces. Heydorff, playing her final home match as a Wildcat, contributed 13 kills and seven digs, while Sable Villaescusa beefed up her season average with 39 assists. Oceana Matsubu led Humboldt State with 10 kills in the losing effort.
BOX SCORE
Chico State finishes the regular season on the road next weekend, traveling to southern California to take on Cal State Dominguez Hills Friday and Cal State L.A. on Saturday. Both matches are scheduled for 7:00 p.m.