BOX SCORE

CARSON, Calif. — The Cal State Monterey Bay volleyball team continued its impressive road roll Saturday night with a 25–16, 25–20, 25–21 sweep of Cal State Dominguez Hills in The Torodome.

CSUMB (11–4, 5–2 CCAA) ran its current winning streak to five matches, its longest streak since it opened the 2011 season with five consecutive wins. It posted its third consecutive CCAA road victory for just the second time in school history and the first time since 2010.

To keep with the theme of firsts, the Otters posted their first road since sweeping Dominguez Hills on Oct. 15, 2010. Finally, the 57 points allowed were the second fewest allowed by the Otters in the rally–scoring era. They narrowly missed the school record of 54 set against the Toros on Sept. 26, 2009.

One thing that wasn't new was the continued dominance of junior outside hitter Julia Ashen (North Salinas HS) who needed just three sets to amass 19 kills (6.3 kps) as she continues to battle for the NCAA lead in that category. She entered the week averaging 5.05 kills per set, good for the No. 2 spot nationally.

On the attack, CSUMB also got 11 kills from Victoria Clardy (Westminster/Marina HS) and 10 from Jessica Malcolm (Lodi HS), who bounced back into double figures after her 12–match streak of reaching double figures ended with eight kills Friday at Cal State L.A. On defense, senior Lacee Ventura (Salinas HS) led the way with a match–high 16 digs while DJ Gresham-Ryder (Stockton/Chavez HS) chipped in a match–high six blocks.

CSUMB never trailed in winning the first two sets. The Otters seemed poised to blow open the third set as well until the Toros got hot, using a 9–1 run to turn a 14–9 CSUMB lead into an 18–15 edge that threatened to extend the match. But Ventura and Clardy combined for one block to stop the bleeding before Clardy and Kelsey Johnston (Ripon HS) followed with another to get the Otters back on track.

CSUMB scored 10 of the final 13 points to pull away and put away the win.

The Otters will have their work cut out if they hope to continue their winning ways on the road next weekend when they conclude their 5–match trip at nationally–ranked Cal State San Bernardino and UC San Diego Oct. 10–11.