BOX SCORE

SEASIDE, Calif. — The young Cal State Monterey Bay continues to play strong against ranked competition, but the magic formula for pulling out a win in those matches is still eluding the Otters. Saturday night, the Otters opened with a first set victory before falling to 2011 NCAA Regional Finalist Sonoma State 23-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-17 in The Kelp Bed.

CSUMB (10-11, 4-9 CCAA) got the seventh double-double of the season from sophomore outside hitter Julia Ashen and a season-high 23 digs from freshman libero Rachel Cookus. But Sonoma (15-8, 9-4 CCAA) got 15 kills each from Caylie Seitz, Allyson Sather and Kelsey Hull to power the Seawolf comeback.

“I'm really proud of how we played,” said CSUMB Head coach Jody Garry. “We had a game plan and we followed it. In the lockerroom after the game we felt empowered by the progress we showed.”

Saturday's rematch was a far cry from the first meeting of the season, when seven Otter freshmen made their debutante CCAA performances at Sonoma State. The Seawolves had little trouble sweeping CSUMB that night, but they found a much improved Otter team this time around.

Set one was close throughout, but Sonoma twice overcame three-point Otter leads late to tie the match at 23-23. That's when freshman Victoria Clardy came up big, sliding right to put down her sixth kill of the set to break the tie. Ashen followed with her fourth kill to give CSUMB the early lead.

Sonoma stormed back in the second, leading wire-to-wire in a 25-18 victory that knotted the match at 2-2. The match then turned in an epic third set featuring 13 ties and six lead changes.

A pair of Rachel Freeno aces spurred a 4-0 run that gave CSUMB tenuous control midway through the set at 15-11. Sonoma scored nine of the ensuing 12 points to move back ahead, 20-18, before two Jessica Malcolm kills helped the Otters take their final lead at 22-21. But the Seawolves used their final timeout to regroup then sandwiched a Madelyn Densberger ace between three Sather kills to finish the set.

The Otters stayed close early in the deciding set, but three Hull kills and two by Regan Richert created a 5-0 run midway through the frame, giving Sonoma an 18-10 lead CSUMB ultimately could not overcome.

Of historical significance, Ashen's 15 kills raised her season total to 295, moving her past Melanie Lashbrook (294 in 2011) for eighth place on the CSUMB single season kills list. With five more kills she will become just the eighth Otter to reach 300 kills in a single season.

With 43 assists, sophomore setter Kelsey Johnston became just the fifth Otter setter to surpass 700 assists in a season. Johnston's 704 helpers put her 15 behind Monique Sena (719 in 2011) for fourth place. Nikki Sanderson holds the Otter record of 844 set in 2006.

CSUMB will close out its four game homestand with a pair of matches next weekend in The Kelp Bed. The Otters host Cal State L.A. Friday and Cal State Dominguez Hills Saturday. First serve both nights is scheduled for 7 p.m.