SAN ANTONIO – Adversity is something every team deals with, and the good teams manage to overcome it in a positive fashion, which is what the St. Mary's Volleyball team did on Saturday afternoon. After hitting under .150 through the first two sets, the offense rebounded to hit almost .300 through the remainder for the four-set win against Cameron, 25-21, 16-25, 26-24, 25-17.
The win moves the Rattlers (13-7, 7-6 Lone Star Conference) into a tie for seventh-place in the league standings with two weeks remaining in the regular season.
Defense led to offense for the Rattlers as they recorded 75 digs (18.75/set) and 11 blocks in the match. Five different players were in double digits in digs, led by junior libero
Gabi Sandoval (San Antonio) with 17. Freshman setter
Cali Nims (Corpus Christi, Texas) dug up 12, senior outside hitter
Alissa Tolbert (San Antonio) added 11 and both sophomore setter
Aislan Lennon (Houston) and freshman defensive specialist
Leah Cruz (Laredo, Texas) added 10 each.
Tolbert led the team with 16 kills, while sophomore outside hitter
Lindsey Ogle (Houston) added 11. Six different Rattlers posted five or more kills on the afternoon.
Senior middle blocker
Julia Deais (San Antonio), who played on the right side in the third set, led the team with five blocks, while fellow senior middle
Rachel McDonald (Indianapolis, Ind.) tallied four. Deais also had eight kills on 16 swings with no errors for a .500 hitting percentage.
Nims notched her fourth double-double of the year adding 22 assists and for the third-straight match led the team in service aces – this time with three. Lennon also recorded her seventh double-double of the year with 23 assists to go along with her 10 digs.
The victory gives the Rattlers their first weekend sweep in Lone Star Conference play this season (with multiple matches in a week).
St. Mary's hits the road for the final time in regular season, traveling to Texas A&M International on Friday evening and Texas A&M Kingsville on Saturday at 1 p.m.
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER & TEAM NOTES
- Senior Rachel McDonald added four blocks to her weekend, giving her 13 for the weekend and pushing her past the 150 block milestone. She now has 152.
- Cali Nims posted her fourth double-double of the year with 22 assists and 12 digs and she surpassed the 150 dig milestone and stands at 154.
- Alissa Tolbert (16) and Aislan Lennon (7) also recorded double-doubles in the match. Tolbert had 16 kills and 11 digs, while Lennon posted 23 assists and 10 digs.
- Sophomore middle blocker Josie Disponette (Wilmore, Kent.) tallied the very first service ace of her career in the third set. It gave the team a 23-21 lead and they went on to win 26-24.
- For the 10th time in 2021 and third-straight match, the Rattlers served more aces than errors, with nine aces to only three miscues.
- St. Mary's is guaranteed a winning record in the regular season for the first time since the 2017 squad was 17-11. That team went on to win the Heartland Tournament and finish 19-12 overall.
