BOX SCORE
SEASIDE, Calif. — The Cal State Monterey Bay volleyball team continued its late season surge towards an NCAA Tournament bid by dispatching Cal State East Bay 25–22, 15–25, 25–21, 25–23 Tuesday night in The Kelp Bed.

The victory lifted CSUMB's (17–9, 11–7 CCAA) win streak to four matches while pushing its school–record win total to 17. East Bay fell to 11–15 and 7–11 with the loss.

Sophomore Jessica Malcolm (Lodi HS) led the way, putting down a match–high 23 kills for the Otters. That total ranks No. 7 all–time in the CSUMB book for kills in a 4–set match. Junior Julia Ashen (North Salinas HS) added 18 kills while sophomore Victoria Clardy (Westminster/Marina HS) led all blockers with five stuffs.

Although the match was every bit as close as the final score indicated, only the first and fourth sets held much in the way of drama. In the first, East Bay rallied from four point down late to take a 22–20 lead before four consecutive Otter kills and a Kelsey Johnston (Ripon HS) ace gave CSUMB the 25–22 win.

Both the second and third sets featured just two ties and no lead changes. The Pioneers eased away in the second with a 10–5 run midway through the set to take a 20–12 lead en route to the win. In the third, an Ashen kill snapped a 4–4 tie and the the Pioneer never caught up again as the Otters took control of the match.

The fourth set could have gone either way as neither team held more than a 2–point lead at any time. The Otters got to 20 first when Ashen's 18th kill snapped a 19–19 tie. East Bay scored the next three points to take a 22–20 lead and led as late as 23–22 until a pair of Malcolm kills gave CSUMB the only match point it would need. With Rachel Cookus (Thousand Oaks HS) serving, the Pioneers made an attack error to end the final rally and the match.

CSUMB will get a chance to prove its mettle this weekend when it concludes its 2013 home schedule by hosting No. 12 UC San Diego Friday and No. 14 Cal State San Bernardino Saturday. First serve both nights is at 7 p.m.