ST. GEORGE, Utah. — The Cal State Monterey Bay volleyball season got off to a thrilling start Friday and Saturday at the Crystal Inn Invitational hosted by Dixie State University. A huge comeback win over Black Hills State, in which the Otters rallied from two sets down to win 3–2, came in between tough losses to strong teams from Northwest Nazarene and Dixie State.
CSUMB dropped the first two sets to Black Hills before pulling out the 21–25, 20–25, 25–23, 25–17, 15–11 win Friday evening. NNU took a 25–17, 25–20, 25–20 decision in Friday's season opener. Dixie closed the tournament with a 25–14, 25–18, 25–23 win over the Otters Saturday afternoon.
LEADERS OF THE RAFT… Junior
Maddy Underwood (Spokane/Mead HS) led the Otter offense with 30 total kills on the weekend. She led the team in the matches versus Northwest Nazarene (7) and Dixie State (10). Sophomore
Ashlynne Armstrong (Corona/Norco HS) averaged a healthy 4.2 digs per set, including a career–high 23 in the win over Black Hills.
COMING FROM WAY BACK… The Otters rallied from two sets down to win a match for the first time since they turned the trick at Chico State in a 19–25, 19–25, 25–25, 30–28, 15–13 win on Oct. 26, 2013. That's a span of 63 matches.
AROUND THE BLOCK… Blocking continues to be a strong point of emphasis under second year Head Coach
Moe Melhart. CSUMB out–blocked its foes in all three matches at the Crystal Inn Invitational with an 18–11 edge at the net.
THEY'VE GOT NEXT… The Otters head to Hayward for the West Region Crossover hosted by Cal State East Bay. CSUMB will play Notre Dame de Namur Thursday (Sept. 8), Dominican University and Academy of Art Friday (Sept. 9) and Holy Names University Saturday (Sept. 10).
GO OTTERS!
