Box score

ARCATA, Calif. – The Cal State East Bay volleyball team bounced back from its worst loss of the season last night to post a 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-15) sweep over Humboldt State on Saturday night at Lumberjack Arena. The Pioneers (12-8, 7-8 CCAA) were led by Nikki Long and Kitona Offord, who both posted 10 kills in helping East Bay snap a two-match losing streak.

Long had her best night of the season for the Pioneers, tying her season high in kills, and setting a new season standard, hitting at a .444 clip. Offord had her second-best hitting night of the season with a .529 hitting percentage. Nicole Boyle was just one kill shy of a double-double, laying down nine kills and adding 10 digs to record her seventh double-double of the year. Boyle also led the team with four aces.

Setter Kristin Neary added a double-double of her own, dishing out 18 assists and posting 11 digs. Danielle Stewart also notched 18 assists in the win. Leslie Ray led the team with 18 digs.

Humboldt State was led by Oceana Matsubu's 11 kills and Bailey Kotas dished out 18 assists for the Jacks.

As a team, the Pioneers finished hitting at a .290 clip and nearly doubled the Jacks' 25 kills, with 46 total putaways. East Bay also posted eight aces to Humboldt State's three. The Jacks hit just .124 on the night and had six service errors in the loss.

Set 1 – Cal State East Bay 25, Humboldt State 19
Though Humboldt State got out to a 4-2 lead early on, the Pioneers answered back with an 8-2 run to take a 10-4 lead. The run saw Kitona Offord lay down a pair of kills and Leslie Ray drop in two aces. East Bay never trailed again, though the Jacks closed the gap to just one. Leading 17-16, the Pioneers closed out the set with an 8-3 run that included two kills apiece from Nicole Boyle and Nikki Long and an ace from Tatum Bales. Long's fourth kill of the set put the Pioneers up 1-0 in the match.

Set 2 – Cal State East Bay 25, Humboldt State 17
The second set was the most competitive of the match, as the two teams were tied five times. The Pioneers and Jacks traded points to begin the set with neither team leading by more than two points through to 8-8, when East Bay went on a 7-2 run to take a 15-10 advantage. The run saw Offord lay down a pair of kills and three errors by the Jacks. Humboldt State pulled within three at 20-17, but the Pioneers scored five unanswered points to finish the set. Offord and Boyle scored four of the final five points to give East Bay the 2-0 lead at the break. The Pioneers finished the set hitting .389, having committed just three errors and holding the Jacks to eight kills and an .054 percentage.

Set 3 – Cal State East Bay 25, Humboldt State 15
The final set was all Pioneers, as they got out to a quick 13-7 lead thanks to three kills from Hirzel and a pair from Nikki Long. Thought Humboldt State closed the gap to just four, 14-10, East Bay finished on an 11-5 run to take the match. Long laid down a pair of kills in the final 16 points of the match, while Katie Allen and Kitona Offord finished the sweep with back-to-back kills.

Cal State East Bay returns home next week to kick off its final home stand of the 2011 campaign. The Pioneers will host cross-bay rival San Francisco State on Oct. 28 and Cal Poly Pomona on Oct. 29 at Pioneer Gym.