ARCATA, Calif. -- With its collective back firmly against the wall, the Cal State Monterey Bay volleyball team roared back from two sets down to upset high–flying Humboldt State 18–25, 22–25, 25–23, 27–25, 15–12 Saturday night in Lumberjack Arena.
CSUMB rallied from 0–2 down for the first time since beating Chico State in a similar fashion on Oct. 26 of last season. The win kept the Otters within striking distance of the top half of the CCAA table and dropped Humboldt State out of second place.
The Otters got 22 kills from junior outside hitter Jessica Malcolm (Lodi HS), just the second 20–kill match by an Otter this season. For the record, Malcolm recorded the other with 23 in the season–opener versus Fresno Pacific. She completed the double–double Saturday with 13 digs. "I'm proud of the leadership of Kelsey Johnston, who was just released to play on this weekend," said CSUMB Head Coach Jody Garry (@JodyGarry) of her senior setter, who returned to action after a month off due to injury. "The team really put 'we' over 'me' in doing the little things to be successful."
After dropping the first two sets, the Otters pulled out a taut third set, breaking a 22–22 tie by scoring three of the final four points to extend the match.
Things looked bleak in the fourth set when Humboldt extended its lead to 21–16 with an eye towards closing out the match. The Lumberjacks earned a pair of match points, but the Otters parried both on kills by Julia Ashen (North Salinas HS) and Skyler Allen (Riverside Poly). Another Ashen kill got the Otters to set point, where Malcolm and Victoria Clardy (Westminster/Marina HS) combined to stuff Nicole Bewley to level the match.
"In the first two sets, Humboldt did everything we thought it would and we didn't make needed adjustments," said Garry. In sets three, four and five, we zoomed in on our focus, took big swings out of the back row.
Both teams threatened to take control of the fifth set, but all it resulted in was a 12–12 tie. Malcolm's 22nd kill broke the stalemate where the Otter block took over. Allen, Ashen and Janai Johnson (Sacramento/Bradshaw Christian) combined to stuff Symone Hayden for CSUMB's first triple of the season. Allen and Johnson followed with a block of Ashley Owen to finish the affair.
"All three middles were big tonight," said Garry. "Vic sealed the win in the third set. Janai subbed in in the third set and lit it up on the block and on offense."
In addition to Malcolm, Ashen added a 15–kill, 15–dig double–double. Allen added a career–high nine block assists, the ninth most in school history. Rachel Cookus (Thousand Oaks HS) chipped in 27 digs. CSUMB returns to The Kelp Bed for its next two matches, hosting Chico State Friday (Oct. 24) and Cal State Stanislaus Saturday (Oct. 25). First serve both nights is 7 p.m.
GO OTTERS!
