KINGSVILLE, Texas – It was a tale of two matches for the St. Mary's Volleyball team as they hit well in sets one and three, but struggled in the other three, losing the second-straight match in five sets. Texas A&M Kingsville was able to eek out the win on senior day, 25-23, 12-25, 25-17, 19-25, 12-15.
The two teams now have identical 7-8 records in Lone Star Conference play with one week remaining in the regular season. The Rattlers (13-9) host Angelo State and Lubbock Christian, while the Javelinas (13-8) go on the road.
All three outside hitters notched double figures in kills for the Rattlers, as senior
Alissa Tolbert (San Antonio) had 15, while sophomores
Julia Aleman (San Antonio) and
Lindsey Ogle (Houston) added 14 and 12, respectively. Tolbert also led the team in digs with 19, posting her 18th double-double of the season.
Sophomore DS
Nadia Manitzas (San Antonio) tallied 14 digs, freshman DS
Leah Cruz (Laredo, Texas) added 13 and junior libero
Gabi Sandoval (San Antonio) chipped in 10.
The block for the Rattlers continued to be strong as they blocked a season-high 14, led by senior middle blocker
Rachel McDonald (Indianapolis, Ind.) with seven. Both senior middle blocker
Julia Deais (San Antonio) and Ogle were right behind her with six. The 14 blocks by StMU are the most in a match since they totaled 17 in a four-set win over Our Lady of the Lake on Sept. 4, 2018.
The flow and momentum of the match went back-and-forth all afternoon, with each team using scoring runs to gain a lead. There were a total of 20 ties and seven lead changes throughout the match.
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER & TEAM NOTES
- Senior MB Rachel McDonald has been a solid force at the net the last two weeks, garnering 25 blocks in the four matches for an average of 1.39 per set. She also has 26 kills over the same time period to add another dimension to the offense.
- In each of her three starts, freshman DS Leah Cruz has totaled double figures in digs and now has four matches this season with 10 or more. She also has 68 receptions with no errors over the same stretch.
- The Rattlers ran a 5-1 offense for the first extended time period this season, as freshman S Cali Nims was out for the weekend with a family wedding. Sophomore S Aislan Lennon responded with 88 assists (8.8/set).
- Julia Deais collected a season-high eight digs and one was one off her career-high of nine from the match against Lubbock Christian in 2019.
- StMU posted 14 blocks on Saturday, the most for the team since they had 17 in a four-set victory over OLLU on Sept. 4, 2018. The Rattlers have now had over 10 blocks in each of the last four matches.
- For the 11th time in 2021, the Rattlers recorded more service aces than errors, with six aces and three errors in 94 attempts against the Javelinas.
