SEASIDE, Calif. — Cal State Monterey Bay volleyball said farewell to two of the best players in school history Saturday night as senior setter Kelsey Johnston (Ripon HS) and senior outside hitter Julia Ashen (North Salinas HS) played their final collegiate matches in front of a boisterous Kelp Bed crowd. Both players added to their already ample contributions to the Otter record book, but it wasn't enough to stop visiting UC San Diego from taking a 25–23, 25–21, 27–25 victory.

Johnson tacked on 29 assists to the school record she already owned and finishes her career with 2,919 helpers, 776 more than her nearest competitor. Ashen, meanwhile, finishes her career with 1,278 kills, good for number two on the all–time list. It's one of just 11 categories in which she finishes ranked in the Otter career top 10.

One player who will chase down some of Ashen's records next season is junior outside hitter Jessica Malcolm (Lodi HS), who enjoyed a monster weekend to close the 2014 season. After setting the CSUMB 3–set record with 22 kills in Friday's sweep of Cal Poly Pomona, Malcolm led all attackers with 20 kills against UCSD. She becomes the only player in CSUMB history to record 20–plus kills in a 3–set match three times with Saturday's effort.

Malcolm and the Otters started on fire against the Tritons. She had seven kills in the first set as CSUMB raced to an 8–1 lead and led until UCSD finally tied it at 20–20 before taking its first lead at 22–21.

The second set saw the Otters storm back from their own 8–1 deficit, using a 15–7 run to pass the Tritons at 16–15. But UCSD rallied for three consecutive points to retake the lead at 18–16 and the Otters couldn't get over the hump a second time.

Set three proved to be a sideout war for the first 24 points as neither team could get a toehold in forging a 12–12 tie. A gentle 8–4 run appeared to give the Tritons control at 20–16, but the Otters had one senior night rally left.

A kill by Malcolm an an Ashen ace knotted the match at 23–23 before Malcolm and Janai Johnson (Sacramento/Bradshaw Christian) combined for a block to give the Otters a set point. But that proved to be CSUMB's last hurrah as the Tritons scored four of the final five points to hold on for the win.

CSUMB finishes the season at 9–17 overall and 9–13 in CCAA play, good for a ninth place finish in the conference standings.