BOX SCORE

ARCATA, Calif. — The Cal State Monterey Bay volleyball team not only traveled the length of California to match its school record with its sixth road win of the season Saturday night, it literally went the distance to do it. The Otters played their 11th 5–set match of 2013 and came away with their seventh such win by defeating Humboldt State 23–25, 25–23, 25–18, 25–27, 18–16 in Lumberjack Arena.

CSUMB (14–9, 8–7 CCAA) matched the school record for road victories first set by the 2010 Otters. Its 14th win overall leaves it just one win shy of the Otter season record also set in 2010.

Sophomore outside hitter Jessica Malcolm (Lodi HS) capped a strong weekend by putting down a match–high 24 kills. She just missed her career–high of 22 digs, but did complete the first 20–20 match of her bright young career by collecting 21.

Junior Julia Ashen (North Salinas HS) put the exclamation point on the win with her 21st kill of the match and 401st kill of the season on match point. Ashen, who set the season standard with 426 kills as a sophomore in 2012, joins former All–American Rheann Fall as the only players in Otter history to record two 400-kill seasons.

The match was every bit as close as the final score indicated. In fact, neither team managed as much as a 4–point run all night and the first one didn't come until a pair of Malcolm kills bookended a 4–0 run that broke a 19–19 tie and helped the Otters win the second set.

The Otters added two more 4–0 runs in the third set to pull away from an 8–8 tie in what would be the only runaway set of the night. The fourth and final 4–0 run of the night also belonged to the Otters, only this one early in the fourth set didn't lead the way to victory.

In an epic set that featured 19 ties and 14 lead changes, Humboldt rallied late, forcing the Otters to save a pair of set points before the Lumberjacks got two kills from Ashley Owens to break a 25–25 tie and force the deciding set.
CSUMB took an early lead in the fifth and held Humboldt at arm's length while earning two match points at 14–12. But the Lumberjacks strung together three consecutive points for just the fifth time in the match to turn the tables and earn what would be their only match–point at 15–14.

A Malcolm kill and a Lacee Ventura (Salinas HS) ace restored order and gave CSUMB a third match point, which Humboldt saved on a Alex Hasenstab kill. But Malcolm followed with her 24th kill, Ashen with her 21st and the rest, as they say, was history.

In addition to Malcolm's 21, the Otters got 28 digs from Rachel Cookus (Thousand Oaks HS), a career–high 24 digs from Ventura and 21 digs from Kelsey Johnston (Ripon HS), marking the first time in Otter history that four players reached 20 digs in the same match. Thanks in large part to the efforts of that quartet, CSUMB collected 113 digs in the match, good for the No. 3 spot in the Otter record book.

Johnston, who set the CSUMB career record for assists Thursday night in Pomona, added 56 assists, tying herself for the No. 6 spot on the Otter single–match record list. She now owns five of the top eight single–match totals in school history.

CSUMB returns home to begin its final homestand of the season next weekend when it hosts Cal State Dominguez Hills Friday (Nov. 9) and Cal State L.A. Saturday (Nov. 10). First serve both nights is 7 p.m.