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Scoreboard

Slusser_Shea_20190927VB vs ENM_01
Antonio Morano Photography
3
Winner Tex. A&M-Kingsville TAMK 14-8,6-2 Lone Star
2
St. Mary's (TX) SMU-TX 8-8,6-2 Lone Star
Winner
Tex. A&M-Kingsville TAMK
14-8,6-2 Lone Star
3
Final
2
St. Mary's (TX) SMU-TX
8-8,6-2 Lone Star
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Tex. A&M-Kingsville TAMK 25 25 21 19 15 (3)
St. Mary's (TX) SMU-TX 20 19 25 25 13 (2)

Game Recap: Volleyball | | RattlerAthletics.com

Comeback Falls Just Short for Volleyball

By Heather Kennedy | RattlerAthletics.com

SAN ANTONIO – Just like the last time the two teams met, it was a battle to the finish and the visiting team pulled out the 15-13 win in the fifth set – identical to the meeting the St. Mary's and Texas A&M-Kingsville teams played on Sept. 12, however this time the match was a Lone Star Conference tilt.

In four of the five sets, the first point decided the outcome as all but the second stanza the team that scored the first point went on to win the set. The Javelinas improved to 15-7 overall and 6-2 in Lone Star play with the 25-20, 25-19, 21-25, 19-25, 15-13 win, while the Rattlers moved to 8-8 on the year and 2-6 in conference action.

Freshman Shea Slusser (Denton, Texas) recorded the first double-double of her career with a career-high 12 kills and a career-best 14 digs. Slusser came off the bench in the first two sets before moving into the starting rotation for the final three.

Senior outside hitter KK Payne (New Braunfels, Texas) led the team with 16 kills, while sophomore middle blocker Jasmine Sims (Graham, Texas) chipped in 10 and hit a team-high .375 on the afternoon (10-1-24). Junior Haley Bradfute (New Braunfels) led the team with a pair of aces as the team had more aces than errors for the second-straight match (seven aces, six errors).

Junior libero Catherine Cruz (San Antonio) led the team with 19 digs, while sophomore Gabi Sandoval (San Antonio) came off the bench to record a career-high 14 digs. Sophomore Rachel McDonald (Indianapolis, Indiana) also came off the bench to lead the team with three blocks – starting the final three sets.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The first set was tied at 1, 2 and 5 before the Javelinas scored three straight for the 8-5 lead. The Rattlers fought back to knot the score at 11-11 for the fourth and final tie of the set, but TAMUK scored nine of the next 10 points to stretch the lead to 20-12. The Rattlers battled, using a five-point run of their own to close within three, 20-17 with back-to-back kills by Payne and a kill and a solo block by sophomore middle blocker Julia Deais (San Antonio), but the Javelinas went on to win 25-20.

The second set was tied at 1, 2 and 3 when Kingsville went on a 3-0 run to take a 6-3 advantage. They pushed the lead out to 10-4, but the Rattlers scored four straight to close within two, 10-8 and brought it within one, 11-10 on a block by Sims and Perry. The Rattlers got within one two other times, but the Javelinas maintained the lead throughout and finished with the 25-19 victory.

After shuffling the lineup slightly, the Rattlers came out fired up and scored the first four points of the third set with a kill by senior Savannah Alcazar (League City, Texas) and back-to-back kills by McDonald. The Gold & Blue led throughout the entire set, leading by as many as eight, 18-10, though the Javelinas fought back to close within three, 22-19. The Rattlers held on to win 25-21.

StMU scored the first two of the fourth set and never looked back, leading the entire set. They stretched the 2-0 lead to 10-4 and they held onto a six-point lead for the 25-19 win.

There were eight ties and two lead changes in the fifth and final set, including ties at each of the first five points before the Rattlers took a two-point lead off a kill and ace serve by Sims. The Javelinas scored the next two for the 7-7 tie and took a 10-8 lead. The Rattlers fought back to knot things up at 12-12, but TAMUK scored three of the final four for the 15-13 win.

TEAM & INDIVIDUAL NOTES
  • For the fifth time this season and the second-straight match, the Rattlers recorded more aces than errors at the service line with seven aces and six miscues. Six different players recorded the seven aces, with Haley Bradfute the only player with two.
  • Shea Slusser posted the first double-double of her career with career-bests in both kills (12) and digs (14). Her previous career-bests were nine kills and 12 digs, both against Eastern New Mexico (Sept. 27). She came off the bench in the first two sets before starting the final three. Her last kill in the match was also the 50th of her career, while she also recorded her 50th dig and now has 52.
  • Bree Perry tied her season-high with 49 assists, tying the total she had against West Texas A&M on Sept. 28
  • Gabi Sandoval recorded a career-high digs, bettering her previous high of 12 – which she's done twice this season.
  • The 57 kills by the Rattlers are the second-highest total of the season behind the 63 against West Texas A&M on Sept. 28.
  • KK Payne tied her season-high with 16 kills, knotting the 16 she had against West Texas A&M on Sept. 28.
  • The 56 assists recorded by StMU are the most this year, bettering the previous team high of 55 from Sept. 28 against WT.
  • The Rattlers have had seven or more aces eight times in 2019.
UP NEXT
St. Mary's takes a mid-week trip to Texas A&M Commerce – which recently dropped out of the AVCA rankings – before returning home to host #22 Tarleton State on Friday at 6 p.m. and DBU on Saturday at 2 p.m. in rematches of earlier conference tilts.
 
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