Hayward, Calif.-- Cal State East Bay dropped the first set to Humboldt State Saturday, but roared back to take the final three sets and defeat the Lumberjacks (19-25, 25-15, 25-21, 25-20) at Pioneer Gymnasium.

With the victory, the Pioneers improve their CCAA record to 2-10 and 4-16 overall. The Lumberjacks are now 4-8 in the conference and 6-10 overall.

After losing the first set, the Pioneers went ahead by as high as 10 points and would win by that same margin in the second set, 25-15.  The third set saw a 3-3 tie, but that is the last time the Pioneers would trail as they would hold off the Lumberjacks 25-21. The fourth set was a battle that saw an 18-18 tie, but the Pioneers took control and rolled off the next four points to take a 22-18 that would last. Michaela Gardner spiked home the game winner and the Pioneers earned a CCAA victory with a 25-20 set win.

"The team was succesful in competing within our systems with passion and determination. Michaela Gardner came up with some huge side-out swings for us on the outside and Julie Navarro was a real difference maker blocking one of the top outside hitters in our conference," said Head Coach Jim Spagle. 

Kiki Leuteneker led the Pioneers with 15 kills. Julie Navarro followed her up with 10 kills and also had a .421 hit percentage for the night. Angie Maina led the team with 17 digs and Veronica Fabiano notched 13 digs. Fabiano also recorded 41 assists for the Pioneers.

"Brandi Brucato kept Humboldt off balance with four service aces," Spagle added. "Kiki also had a stellar match for us on the outside."

Overall the Pioneers had 51 kills to the Lumberjacks 44. They had 17 attack errors to the Lumberjacks 26 and won the hitting percentage category .268% to .134%.

Cal State East Bay hits the road next for a CCAA matchup against Cal Poly Pomona Thursday. Game time is set for 7:00 P.M.