Cal State San Marcos needed late runs to secure the first two sets Saturday. The third required no rescue. The Cougars held Cal State Monterey Bay to two kills and a minus-.346 attack percentage in a 25-9 finish, completing a sweep and extending their winning streak to five matches.

CSUSM won 25-21, 25-22, 25-9 to improve to 9-8 overall and 5-3 in the CCAA. Monterey Bay fell to 3-13 and 3-5. The victory was the Cougars' sixth sweep of the season and completed a 5-1 homestand before their schedule shifts back to the road.

Olivia Kranz led the attack with 14 kills at a .313 rate. Elle Livingston-Jones and Kayla Lewis added eight each, with Livingston-Jones hitting .333 and Lewis .273. Lewis also made five digs and served two aces, spreading her contribution across the first contact and the finish.

Setter Brenna Keith recorded 30 assists, seven digs and an ace. Libero Ava Kehoe made 13 digs, added three assists and served two aces. Hannah Apelado supplied three of CSUSM's eight aces. That serving pressure helped separate a match in which the Cougars otherwise held a modest 39-28 advantage in kills.

The opening set carried the first warning. After a 4-4 tie, CSUSM won seven straight points for an 11-4 lead. Monterey Bay worked back to 19-19. The Cougars then took six of the last eight points, with Kranz ending the set on consecutive kills.

Set two reversed the early shape. CSUSM went ahead 4-0 but trailed 16-12 before recovering to lead 21-19. The Otters tied it at 21. Again the Cougars closed, winning four of the final five points, and again Kranz supplied the last two kills. The same finisher decided two sets built through different routes.

There was no 21-all moment in the third. Leads of 6-1 and 13-2 removed the set from reach. CSUSM hit .458 with 12 kills and one error, while Monterey Bay's two kills were outweighed by enough errors to push its percentage far below zero. The 25-9 margin was the match's cleanest expression of the statistical gap.

For the afternoon, CSUSM hit .284 to Monterey Bay's .058. The Cougars committed 10 attack errors and forced or benefited from 22 by the Otters. They led 38-27 in assists, 8-3 in aces and 45-43 in digs. The narrow dig margin alongside the wider score reflects how many Monterey Bay attacks ended without a playable defensive touch.

Five straight is CSUSM's longest winning streak since another five-match run from Oct. 14 through Oct. 28, 2023. The Cougars now lead the series with Monterey Bay 8-6 and have won the last two meetings. The school's recap supplies the official totals but not Monterey Bay's rotation decisions or independent assessment of the third-set collapse.

The next test comes Thursday at Cal Poly Pomona. The Cougars leave a home stretch where they won five of six and enter a gym where early deficits may be harder to reverse. Saturday showed two versions of their current form: enough patience to close tight sets and enough pressure to make the final one brief.