SEASIDE, Calif. — The Cal State Monterey Bay volleyball team survived a Halloween scare from visiting Cal State Dominguez Hills before ending up with the treat in a gritty 25–11, 27–29, 26–24, 14–25, 15–13 win Friday night in The Kelp Bed.

CSUMB won its third consecutive match behind 21 kills from Jessica Malcolm (Lodi HS) and a 13–kill, 5–block performance from Victoria Clardy (Westminster/Marina HS). Rachel Cookus (Thousand Oaks HS) and Julia Ashen (North Salinas HS) led the backline with 19 and 17 digs respectively.

The Otters played the first trick of the evening when they held Dominguez Hills to just 11 points. It was the fewest points allowed by the Otters in the opening set of a match against an NCAA Division II opponent, smashing the previous record of 14 in a win over Cal State Stanislaus on Nov. 15, 2008. It was the fewest allowed in any 25–point set since a 25–10 Set 2 win over Cal State L.A. on Oct. 26, 2012.

CSUMB never trailed in walking away with the first set. It never trailed while opening a 20–14 lead in the second set as well. But the Toros had a trick of their own to play, saving two set points in a furious comeback that ended with a 29–27 CSUDH win, leveling the match.

The Toros kept their momentum well into the third set, building a 16–10 lead. The Otters hung around, but not enough to prevent CSUDH from earning three set points at 24–21. A Malcolm kill saved the first and sent her back to the service line. From their she served three points to give the Otters the lead before sealing the victory with an ace on set point.

Despite late rally in Set 3, the fourth set was the spookiest of them all for CSUMB. The Otters never found their rhythm, twice conceding aces on rotation errors, as the Toros rolled to a 25–14 win to force the decisive fifth set.

But the Toros couldn't complete the Halloween metaphor as the missed opportunity to close the match in the fourth set didn't come back to haunt the Otters. The teams essentially traded sideouts for the first 18 points before consecutive kills from Janai Johnson (Sacramento/Bradshaw Christian) and Ashen broke a 9–9 tie and gave CSUMB the sliver of separation it needed.

Clardy's fifth block of the night got the Otters to match point, where Ashen's 10th kill ended it.
CSUMB will close its latest homestand by hosting Cal State L.A. Saturday night at 7 p.m.