Volleyball clinches Heartland Tournament bid with Senior Day win

Box Score

SAN ANTONIO — With a victory on Senior Day, the St. Mary's Rattlers Volleyball team secured a playoff spot in the Heartland Conference Tournament Saturday.

The Rattlers won in consecutive sets in order to defeat Oklahoma Panhandle State University and improve their record to 14-12 overall and 10-6 in conference play. 

Even though the Rattlers have secured their playoff berth, they now have an opportunity to move up to a higher seed in their last two matches. St. Edward's, Dallas Baptist and St. Mary's are all within a match of each other in the standings, and the Rattlers actually moved into a tie with DBU for third place Saturday following the Patriots' loss to St. Edward's earlier in the day.

Karlie Ortega, who was one of the seniors that was honored on Senior Day, spoke about this opportunity after the game.
"This was a good win for us, but we have a big games coming up they we need to try to compete in and win," said Ortega, a starting outside hitter. "We've secured our spot in the tournament, which is great. But it is not enough, so we need to try to get some wins under our belt."

St. Mary's second senior Julie Kells had a huge day for the Rattlers. On Senior Day, Kells tallied eight kills and fittingly also scored the last point for the Rattlers. The point gave the Rattlers the match in straight sets: 25-19, 25-16, 25-16.
Kells attributed her and the Rattlers' dominating performance to the team being excited for Senior Day. 

"I was really pumped up because I knew this would be my last home game here at (Bill Greehey Arena), so I just went out there and gave it my all with my teammate Karlie. I'm glad we got to share it together," Kells said.

Ortega and Kells are very close friends on and off the court and both spoke fondly of their memories of playing together. Both players had family at the game that got to witness their final home game.

The Rattlers now look forward to the last two games of the year on the road. On Thursday, the Rattlers will visit Dallas Baptist University in a match that will have seeding implications. The Rattlers could climb their way to a two or three seed should they finish the season with victories. Their last game will be against the top-seeded University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. This game will be a good measuring stick for St. Mary's.

Kells and Ortega both have high expectations going into the Heartland Conference Tournament. Both made it clear that the expectation is to win the Heartland title and then to go on to regionals.