BOX SCORE
POMONA, Calif. — Cal Poly Pomona exacted a bit of revenge for an early–season sweep in The Kelp Bed by defeating visiting Cal State Monterey Bay 29–27, 25–18, 25–20 Thursday evening in Kellogg Gym.

Sophomore outside hitter Julia Ashen put forth another solid effort for CSUMB (12-12, 6-10 CCAA), finishing with 16 kills and 15 digs. But it wasn't enough to offset a 22–kill night from Cal Poly senior Taylr Kreutziger and 27 digs from senior libero Kelly Bonja.

Pomona (11-12, 7-9) jumped out to early leads in all three sets, including a 17-10 lead in the opener. But the Otters stormed back to knot the set at 21-21. CSUMB eventually staved off four set points—an Ashen kill actually gave the Otters a set point of their own at 25-24—before the Broncos pulled the set out 29-27.

Cal Poly raced to an 8-1 lead to open the second set then kept the Otters at arm's length for the 25-18 win. CSUMB fought its way back from an early 10-4 deficit to tie the third set at 17-17 before the Broncos eased away to take the set and the match 25-20.

While CSUMB couldn't grab the win Thursday, Ashen's 16 kills move her season total to 340 and vault her from seventh to fifth place on the CSUMB single season list. She passed Brittany Etchings (333 in 2006) and Courtney Taubert (335 in 2007). Next up are Etchings' 2005 total of 356 kills and the 360 kills posted by Rheann Fall as a senior in 2011.

In addition to Ashen's move up the charts, freshman middle blocker Janai Johnson collected a pair of solo blocks to take over the No. 2 spot on the single season list with 21. Christine Ricketts set the CSUMB standard with 29 solo blocks in 2006.

Also of note were the team-high 17 digs posted by freshman libero Rachel Cookus. Cookus now has 345 digs this season and is just six away from breaking into the Otter top 10 list in that category.

CSUMB will continue its five-match roadtrip Saturday when it heads to far Northern California to take on Humboldt State in Arcata. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.