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SEASIDE, Calif. — The young Cal State Monterey Bay volleyball team took another important pair of steps on the road to maturity Friday, splitting its first two matches at the Route 92 Tournament at Walter Gleeson Gym in Belmont. The Otters opened the day with a 25–21, 25–14, 25–20 loss to Pac West Conference contender Cal Baptist before bouncing back with a 25–14, 25–20, 25–23 sweep of host Notre Dame de Namur in the afternoon.

“I am proud of how the team bounced back and brought their game in an important regional win,” said CSUMB Head Coach Jody Garry after the win over NDNU. “We didn't bring our best in the morning, but we proved to ourselves that every match is a new opportunity.

Freshman Jessica Malcolm continued the solid start to her collegiate career, hitting .538 (15–1–26) in the win over Notre Dame. Sophomore Julia Ashen recorded double figure kills for the fourth and fifth times in six matches this season, finishing with 10 twice Friday.

Also of note, freshman setter Leana Moleta saw her first collegiate action in the NDNU match, finishing with 28 assists and two aces.

The Otters played Cal Baptist tough in the first and third sets to open Friday play. CSUMB trailed just 20–19 in set one and 22–20 in set three before the Lancers made a pair of late pushes to close out wins.

“We knew going in that CBU was a tough team,” said Garry. “They are strong offensively and put up a good size block; however I felt good about our attack and ability to defend. We didn't bring our best game. And that will not be good enough versus this caliber of team.”

The Otters got off to a sizzling start in their afternoon encounter with Notre Dame. Malcolm put down five kills as CSUMB raced to leads of 10–5 and 20–10 while cruising to the first set win. The Otters never trailed in the second set, jumping to a 10–3 lead before the Argonauts closed the gap late.

As with the first two sets, the Otters never trailed in the third, but they couldn't put the pesky Argonauts away until NDNU had saved a pair of match points down 24–21.

“Freshman Jessica Malcolm had a great match against Notre Dame,” said Garry. “And it was great to see freshman Leana Moleta set and lead the team to a win in her first ever collegiate match.”

CSUMB closes play at the Route 92 Tournament with a pair of matches against Pac West Conference foes Saturday. The Otters will play Holy Names at 9 a.m. and Academy of Art at 4:30 p.m.