Antonio Morano Photography

Box Score

St. Mary's (TX) SMU-TX 6-3

DBU DBU 5-1

St. Mary's (TX) SMU-TX

6-3

Final

Sep. 20, 2019

DBU DBU

5-1

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	4	F
St. Mary's (TX) SMU-TX	25	20	23	21	(1)
DBU DBU	21	25	25	25	(3)

Game Recap: Volleyball | 9/20/2019 10:45:00 PM | RattlerAthletics.com

Volleyball Stumbles in Conference Opener

Next Match:

at Tarleton State

9/21/2019 | 1 p.m.

Next Match

Full Schedule

Sep. 21 (Sat) / 1 p.m.

at Tarleton State

History

Recap
Roster

By Heather Kennedy | RattlerAthletics.com

DALLAS, Texas – It may be a brand-new conference, but it was a familiar opponent across the net on Friday night in the 2019 Lonestar Conference opener for the St. Mary's Volleyball team. The Rattlers fell in four close sets at DBU, 25-21, 20-25, 23-25, 21-25.

Four Rattlers (6-3, 0-1 Lonestar Conference) recorded double-doubles on the evening as senior KK Payne (New Braunfels, Texas) led the team and tied her season-high with 14 kills and added 13 digs, sophomore Alissa Tolbert (San Antonio) added 12 kills and tied for match-high honors with 20 digs. Sophomore Jasmine Sims (Graham, Texas) also had 12 kills and posted a season-high 14 digs. Senior Bree Perry (Houston, Texas) notched a match-high 37 assists and a season-high 16 digs and sophomore libero Catherine Cruz (San Antonio) also hit double digits in digs for the sixth-straight match with 14. Perry also led the team with three aces and sophomore middle blocker Rachel McDonald (Indianapolis, Indiana) doubled her previous career-high with four solo blocks.

DBU (5-1, 1-0 Lonestar) was led offensively by Emma Eakin with 14 kills and a .324 hitting percentage, while Lexie Houston added 11 kills. Defensively, Brooke Clark had 20 digs and Kasey Holand had four blocks.

The Gold & Blue recorded a season-high 92 digs, seven solo blocks, 50 set assists and tied their season-high with 51 kills.

The Rattlers remain on the road to take on 11^th-ranked Tarleton State on Saturday at 1 p.m. St. Mary's hosts Eastern New Mexico on Friday, September 27 at 6 p.m. in the 2019 season home opener.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Rattlers jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first set with an ace by Perry, a kill by sophomore Julia Deais (San Antonio) and a kill by Tolbert. The Patriots scored the next four to knot the score at 5-5, but three of the next four went to the Rattlers for the 8-6 lead. Deais and Sims each had a kill during the run. The clubs traded points to 11-9 when DBU scored four of five to take the 13-12 lead for the first time. StMU immediately tied the score at 13-13 and scored three of the next four for the 15-14 lead. DBU tied the score at 15-15 and it was tied at 16-16 before the Rattlers rallied for four straight to lead 20-16 behind a kill and block by McDonald and back-to-back aces by Tolbert. The Patriots cut the lead in half, but StMU answered with two of its own for the 22-18 score. After a DBU point, Payne had a kill and Perry had an ace to set up set point. The Patriots staved off two, but Deais recorded a kill on the third try for the 25-21 win.

The second set was tied at 1-1 and 2-2 before the Rattlers scored four more in a row for the 6-2 advantage. DBU scored three of the next four for the 7-5 tally, but StMU answered by scoring four of the next five to push the lead to five, 11-6. Sims had a kill and Cruz had an ace during the stretch. The Patriots tallied five of the next six to cut the score to one, 12-11 and after a Tolbert kill, pushed three straight across to take a 14-13 lead. Back-to-back kills by Sims and Tolbert gave the lead back to the Rattlers, 15-14, however DBU answered by scoring four of five for the 18-16 lead. The Rattlers cut it to one, but the Patriots rattled off three straight for the 21-17 advantage. Three of the next four points were kills by Payne for the 22-20 score, but DBU scored the final three of the set to knot the match at 1-1.

St. Mary's took a 3-1 lead in the third set behind kills by Payne and two by Tolbert, but three quick points by DBU gave them the 4-3 advantage. The Rattlers answered with a four-point run to regain the lead at 7-4 with a Deais ace and kills by Sims and Tolbert and a Sims block. DBU scored three of the next four to cut it to a one-point set, 8-7. After the Rattlers scored two of three for the 10-8 tally, DBU scored three straight for the 11-10 lead. A Deais block tied the score at 11-11 and it was tied again at 12-12. Three of the next four went to the Patriots then a Tolbert kill made the scoreboard read 15-14. DBU stretched the lead out, scoring five of the next six for the 20-15 tally, but the Rattlers again had an answer, scoring five of six for the 21-20 score, with two kills by Payne and a Perry ace. DBU scored three of four to set up set point, 24-21, and Sims had a kill and McDonald a block to push the Patriots back twice, but the third time was the charm for the Patriots as they won 25-23.

In the final set, it was the Patriots who took the early lead scoring four of the first five. Back-to-back kills by Tolbert cut it to one, 4-3, but DBU answered with two straight to make the score 6-3. Five of the next six points went to the Rattlers with four different players getting kills to give the Gold & Blue an 8-7 edge. DBU used its longest run of the night, scoring seven straight to regain the lead, 14-8. StMU scored three of the next four for the 15-11 score and after one DBU point, the Rattlers added three more to cut it to a two-point set, 16-14. DBU scored one and St. Mary's used another three-point run to knot the score at 17-17, but the Patriots responded by scoring five of the next six for the 22-18 score. The teams traded points until the 25-21 final tally.

INDIVIDUAL & TEAM PLAYER NOTES

Alissa Tolbert had her sixth double-double of the year and 16^th of her career with 12 kills and 20 digs.
This is the first loss in a four-set match this year. The Rattlers are now 2-1 in four-set matches in 2019.
Catherine Cruz has reached double figures in digs in six straight matches.
Senior Bree Perry recorded a season-high 16 digs and tied her season-high with three aces.
KK Payne also tied her season-high with 14 kills and tallied her second double-double of the year with 13 digs.
Jasmine Sims became the fourth player on the team this season to post a double-double for the Rattlers, getting 12 kills and a season-high 14 digs.
Julia Deais posted a career-high seven digs, almost doubling her previous career-high of four that she did twice last season. She also had a season-high six kills.
Rachel McDonald doubled her career-high with four solo blocks. Two other times she's recorded two solo stops in a match, including earlier this year against Texas A&M Kingsville (9/12).
The Rattlers totaled 92 digs in the match, 22 digs higher than the previous season high of 70 from the match against Westminster on Sept. 12.