BOX SCORE
SAN FRANCISCO — The "bang" heard throughout San Francisco Saturday night was the one that the Cal State Monterey Bay volleyball team rode into the sunset. The Otters capped their best–ever season in style with that metaphorical bang, sweeping San Francisco State 25–23, 25–22, 25–19 in The Swamp.

The win increased CSUMB's school–record win total to 18 for the season (18-12 overall, 12-10 CCAA) and locked up a fifth-place finish in the CCAA standings—also the best finish in program history. The win also secured a season sweep of SFSU (13-17, 8-14), CSUMB's school–record fifth sweep of the season.

But even with the spotlight shining on the tremendous team finish, several Otter individuals put their imprimatur on the season by reaching significant milestones in Saturday's win. Leading that group was junior outside hitter Julia Ashen (North Salinas HS), who collected eight kills against the Gators to finish her season with an even 500. That's 76 better than the school record 426 she knocked down in 2012.

Outdone, though just barely, by Ashen was outside hitter Jessica Malcolm (Lodi HS), who came on like a freight train late in the season. Malcolm found the floor 20 times Saturday night and finished her remarkable sophomore campaign with 494 kills of her own.

Junior setter Kelsey Johnston (Ripon HS) added 36 assists to her already school–record total and finished 2013 with 1,278 helpers, 258 better than the CSUMB record she established in 2012. Just missing out on the record book fun was sophomore libero Rachel Cookus (Thousand Oaks HS), whose 14 digs left her with 479 in 2013, the third best mark in CSUMB history.

The only shadow on the victory was the swan song played by Lacee Ventura (Salinas HS) and Molly Kennedy (Oakland/Bishop O'Dowd) the lone seniors on the 2013 roster. Kennedy, the most efficient server in CSUMB history, also moved into the Otter top 10 by playing in her 114th set of the season Saturday. Ventura, meanwhile, led the Otters with 15 digs versus the Gators and ends her career No. 6 on the CSUMB career digs list with 945.

For those interested in the play–by–play action from Saturday's win, suffice it to say that, despite the relatively close set scores, the entire match featured just six ties and two lead changes. Perhaps the most significant play of the evening came with the Otters leading 19–16 in the third set. That's when Ashen put down her 500th kill.