Antonio Morano Photography

Edinboro EU 3-4

St. Mary's (TX) SMU-TX 6-1

Edinboro EU

3-4

Final

Sep. 14, 2019

St. Mary's (TX) SMU-TX

6-1

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Edinboro EU	9	22	25	18	(1)
St. Mary's (TX) SMU-TX	25	25	12	25	(3)

Augustana (SD) AuguSD 7-1

St. Mary's (TX) SMU-TX 6-2

Augustana (SD) AuguSD

7-1

Final

Sep. 14, 2019

St. Mary's (TX) SMU-TX

6-2

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	F
Augustana (SD) AuguSD	25	25	25	(3)
St. Mary's (TX) SMU-TX	18	18	12	(0)

Game Recap: Volleyball | 9/14/2019 11:05:00 PM | RattlerAthletics.com

Volleyball Earns Split on Final Day of Emerald Beach Hotel Invitational

Next Match:

at Dallas Baptist

9/20/2019 | 6 p.m.

Next Match

Full Schedule

Sep. 20 (Fri) / 6 p.m.

at Dallas Baptist

History

Recap
Roster

By Heather Kennedy | RattlerAthletics.com

KINGSVILLE, Texas – The St. Mary's Volleyball team earned a split on the final day of the 2019 Emerald Beach Hotel Invitational hosted by Texas A&M Kingsville, defeating Edinboro in four sets 25-9, 25-22, 12-25, 25-18 before falling to Augustana in three 18-25, 18-25, 12-25.

The Rattlers went 4-1 at the Javelinas tournament and are now 6-2 on the season. The team now turns its attention to its first season of Lonestar Conference action, traveling to DBU and Tarleton State next weekend before finally opening the home portion of the 2019 season on Sept. 27 against Eastern New Mexico at 6 p.m.

Against Edinboro (3-4), sophomore Alissa Tolbert (San Antonio) recorded her fifth double-double of the year with a team-high 14 digs and 14 digs, while fellow sophomore Catherine Cruz (San Antonio) recorded a career-high 22 digs to lead the match. Senior KK Payne (New Braunfels, Texas) paced the Rattlers offense against Augustana (7-1) with seven kills, while Cruz again led with 19 digs. Senior setter Bree Perry (Houston, Texas) totaled 39 assists between the two matches.

EDINBORO REVIEW
Trailing 3-2 in the first set, the Rattlers scored four straight to take a lead they'd never relinquish in the set, going ahead 6-3 after a kill by Payne and an ace by sophomore defensive specialist Gabi Sandoval (San Antonio). The Fighting Scots scored one to cut the lead to two, 6-4, but Tolbert went on the longest scoring run of the year for the team –13 points – to give St. Mary's a 19-4 advantage. During the run, Tolbert served two aces, Payne had three kills, sophomore Rachel McDonald (Indianapolis, Indiana) added one and she teamed up with both Payne and Perry for a block. Edinboro scored three of the next four to make the score 20-7, but the Rattlers scored five of the final seven for the lopsided 25-9 win.

The Rattlers kept things rolling with the first two points of the second set. EU tied it up at 2-2, but StMU responded with back-to-back points for the 4-2 lead. The Scots again scored two straight to knot the score at 4-4, but the Rattlers again immediately answered with a pair of their own. The teams traded points to 7-5, when the Flying Scots when on their longest run of the match – six points – for their first lead of the afternoon, 11-7. Three straight points by the Rattlers brought them within one, 11-10, but EU scored two quick ones for the 13-10 lead. StMU used a five-point run to regain the advantage 15-13 with a kill by sophomore Jasmine Sims (Graham, Texas) and an ace by Perry. The Fighting Scots scored three in a row to take the lead back, 16-15, but the Rattlers answered with three of their own for the 18-16 edge. EU knotted the score at 18-18, but the Rattlers tallied four of the next five for the 22-19 lead after Tolbert recorded two more kills and Sims added an ace. Two straight points by EU brought them within one, 22-21, but the Rattlers scored three of the final four for the 25-22 victory.

Edinboro jumped out to the 4-1 lead at the beginning of the third set. The Rattlers scored on a kill by Tolbert, but the Flying Scots scored seven of the next eight to lead 11-3. EU scored five of the next seven to stretch its lead to 16-5. Senior Savannah Alcazar (League City, Texas) recorded a solo block after a service error to make it a 16-7 score, but the Flying Scots kept their run going with six of the next seven for the 22-8 advantage. The Rattlers scored four of the next five with three kills by Tolbert for the 23-12 tally, but the Scots scored the final two points to force a fourth set.

The Rattlers refocused for the fourth stanza, scoring the first three points behind a kill from Sims and an ace by Payne. Leading 4-2 StMU scored four straight with back-to-back kills by Perry and one by Tolbert for the 8-2 edge. The teams traded points to 10-4 when Tolbert recorded another kill for the 11-4 lead. Back-to-back points for EU brought them within five, 11-6 when Payne had a kill and Perry added an ace to push the lead to 13-6. The squads again traded points and the Scots scored three of the next four so the scoreboard read 14-9. Leading 17-12, the Gold & Blue went on another four-point run to juxtapose the scores, 21-12. The Scots rallied for six of the next eight to close again within five, 23-18, but back-to-back kills by Alcazar ended the match for the Rattlers with a four-set win.

AUGUSTANA REVIEW
Augustana scored the first three points of the opening set, but the Rattlers answered with a three point run of their own, including a block by Sims and Tolbert for the first tie of the night, 3-3. The Vikings scored the next three and StMU responded with two in a row – including an ace by Sims – for the 6-5 score. The clubs traded points before AU went on another three-point run to lead 10-6. Tolbert stopped the run with a kill, but the Vikings scored four straight to push the lead to 14-7. Four of the next five were scored by the Rattlers to cut the deficit to four, 15-11 and the teams traded points to 18-14. AU again tallied three straight for the 21-14 score, when Payne, McDonald and Perry put down kills for three of four points for the 22-17 tally. After the teams traded points, the Vikings managed to score the final two for the 25-18 win.

The Vikings scored the first two of the second stanza and Payne and Alcazar answered with back-to-back kills for the 2-2 tie. After the teams traded kills, the Vikings scored five in a row before missing a serve for the 8-4 score. The squads went back-and-forth to 12-8 when AU used another four-point rally to double up the Rattlers 16-8. Payne stopped the run this time with a kill as the scoreboard read 16-9. Each team scored two in a row for 18-11 when Augustana scored three straight for the 21-11 lead. The Rattlers scored three of four with kills by McDonald, Payne and Tolbert to make it 22-14 and after one Viking point, back-to-back Sims kills and one by Payne cut the lead to 23-17. Two of the final three points went the way of the Vikings for the identical 25-18 tally.

Augustana jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the third set and never looked back, using two four-point runs during the set to build a big lead and win 25-12 over the Rattlers. Payne had three kills in the set, while Tolbert and Sims each had one. Cruz also had an ace and junior Amara Martinez (Houston) and Sims combined on a block.

INDIVIDUAL & TEAM NOTES

Alissa Tolbert recorded a season-high 14 kills against Edinboro and notched her fifth double-double of the season, matching that total with a season-high 14 digs. It is also her 15^th double-double of her career.
Gabi Sandoval recorded a career-best four assists against the Flying Scots, doubling her previous career-high of two from earlier this year against Texas A&M Kingsville.
Sophomore Julia Deais (San Antonio) got her first action of the season, playing in one set against Edinboro. She recorded one dig and had one attack.
Catherine Cruz recorded a career-best 22 digs in the four-set win over Edinboro, bettering her previous high of 19 from earlier this year against the Javelinas. On the day, Cruz averaged 5.86 digs per set.
The loss to Augustana is the first loss on a neutral court this season. The Rattlers were 5-0 entering the nightcap on a neutral floor. The team is also 1-1 in road matches.