ARCATA, Calif. – Bolstered by a career-high 29 kills from senior Beth Perkins (Woodland, Calif., Woodland Christian HS, Mt. Hood CC), the San Francisco State women's volleyball team knocked off Humboldt State in four sets Friday night (25-19, 17-25, 30-28, 25-21) in a California Collegiate Athletic Association match at Lumberjack Arena.

With the victory, SF State assured itself of its first winning season since 1997, improving to 16-6 overall and 9-5 in conference play, while the Lumberjacks fall to 7-16 overall and 3-12 in the CCAA.

Perkins reached the 20-kill plateau for the third straight contest, adding a season-best 17 digs en route to her 12^th double-double of the year. Not to be outdone, freshman Iris Tolenada (Antioch, Calif., Deer Valley HS) also notched a double-double on the evening, dishing out a match-high 47 assists to go along with 16 digs.  With her assist total, Tolenada moved into ninth place on the school's single-season charts with 932 helpers for the year.  Meanwhile, junior Vanessa Shaw (Santa Barbara, Calif., Dos Pueblos HS, Santa Barbara CC) shoveled out a match-best 21 digs to tie her season high.

The two teams slugged it out from the opening serve, combining for 31 ties and 16 lead changes in the grueling four-set affair.  

Trailing 13-12 in the first set, SF State rattled off three straight points on a Perkins kill and consecutive HSU attack errors to spark an 8-3 flurry, putting the visitors up 20-16. Moments later, the Lumberjacks crept to within 20-18 on kills by Oceana Matsubu and Allison Drobish.  However, the Gators curtailed the host school's rally as a pair of kills by freshman Lauren Walsh (Coto de Caza, Calif., Tesoro HS) and three additional HSU attack errors keyed a 5-1 run to close out the frame.

The two sides battled to a 12-12 tie in set number two until HSU tallied five consecutive points to take a 17-12 lead, capped by a Dani Nelson kill.  SF State quickly answered with back-to-back kills by Perkins and Walsh, but could draw no closer as a Matsubu kill along with a Gator attack error gave the Lumberjacks an insurmountable 22-15 advantage.

No lead proved to be safe, however, in a frenzied third set that featured 14 ties and eight lead changes. Things looked good for the Gators early on as a Shaw service ace and a kill by sophomore Robyn Hall (Hayward, Calif., Bishop O'Dowd HS, Univ. of Portland) provided the visitors an 8-4 cushion.  HSU stayed close, though, eventually taking a 22-19 lead on a Callan Finney kill. SF State fought itself off the ropes at this juncture as a 5-2 run knotted the score at 24-24, punctuated by a Perkins kill.  The Lumberjacks went back in front 25-24 on a Lesley Kalbrener kill, but the Gators reclaimed the lead moments later at 26-25 following another Perkins kill and an HSU attack error. However, SF State committed an attack error of its own on the ensuing serve, which tied the score once again at 26-26. After the two teams traded the next four points, the Gators ended the suspenseful set with back-to-back kills by sophomore Halimah Oswald (San Francisco, Calif., Waldorf HS) and Perkins.

Spurred by its good fortune, SF State led throughout the fourth set, save for a 12-12 tie. Nevertheless, the pesky Lumberjacks remained in contention, pulling to within 19-18 on a Matsubu kill.  However, HSU's momentum was stalled as a service error and an Oswald kill put the Gators up 21-18. Perkins then single-handedly made sure there would be no letdown after knocking down four kills down the stretch to secure the hard-fought win.