AUSTIN – In a hard-fought battle, the St. Mary's Volleyball team dropped a five-set heartbreaker at St. Edward's. The Rattlers (2-1, 2-1 Lone Star Conference) jumped out to the early 2-0 set lead, but the Hilltoppers (2-3, 2-3 Lone Star) came back to win the final three sets and grab the victory 25-22, 25-20, 23-25, 19-25, 8-15.
Four Rattlers recorded double figures in kills, with freshman RS
Mia Martinez (Orlando, Fla.) and junior MB
Julia Deais (San Antonio) each getting 11 and junior OH
Alissa Tolbert (San Antonio) and freshman OH
Julia Aleman (San Antonio) each recording 10.
Tolbert continued her streak of double-doubles, as she also had 17 digs, while senior libero
Catherine Cruz (San Antonio) led the team with a match- and season-high 27 digs. Setters
Aislan Lennon (Houston) and
Lindsey Kaufman (Coral Springs, Fla.) each recorded double-doubles, as Lennon had 25 assists and 17 digs, while Kaufman totaled 19 assists and 10 digs.
Deais also tied her career-high with a match-high four service aces. She also led the club with four blocks and hit .333 (11-4-21).
St. Edward's was led by Maddie Miksch with 16 kills and a match-high .412 (16-3-34) hitting percentage. Kaitlyn Krafka notched a double-double with 13 kills and 19 digs, while four others also hit double digits in digs. Maya Smalls led the match with eight blocks.
St. Mary's hit only .108 for the match, while St. Edward's hit .188.
The first set went back-and-forth with seven ties and two lead changes before the Rattlers grabbed the lead for good on back-to-back aces by Deais for the 23-21 advantage. After an SEU point, Martinez and freshman
Josie Disponette (Wilmore, Kent.) recorded consecutive kills for the 25-22 win.
The Rattlers trailed 6-2 in the second set, but battled back to knot the score at 12-12. After two Hilltopper errors, Aleman recorded a kill for the Rattlers first lead, 16-15. The Rattlers also won the next point after a challenge by SEU and stretched the lead to four, 20-16 by winning three of the next four points. After a pair of kills by the Hilltoppers, Freshman
Lindsey Ogle (Houston) smashed a ball down and an error by SEU forced the timeout with the Rattlers up 22-18 and they went on to win 25-20.
The Rattlers led the majority of the third set, but the Hilltoppers battled back to knot the score at both 17, 18 and 22 before taking their first lead at 23-22 and they went on to win 25-23 to force a fourth set.
The fourth set was again back-and-forth with seven ties and three lead changes until 17-17. The Hilltoppers scored four of the next five points and went on to win 25-19.
St. Edward's scored the first three points of the final set and used a five-point run midway through to lead 10-4, going on to win 15-8.
The two teams will have only 24 hours to prepare for the rematch, as the Rattlers play at St. Edward's on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Fans will not be permitted inside the Recreation and Athletics Center, but the match can be viewed on the Lone Star Network.
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER & TEAM NOTES
- Junior Julia Deais tied her career-high with four service aces, knotting her total from Nov. 8, 2019 against Lubbock Christian.
- Junior Alissa Tolbert tallied her third-straight double-double of the year and 21st of her career with 10 kills and 17 digs.
- Setters Aislan Lennon and Lindsey Kaufman also tallied their second double-doubles of the year as Lennon had 25 assists and 17 digs, while Kaufman totaled 19 assists and 10 digs.
- Senior libero Catherine Cruz missed her career-high in digs by just three, leading the match with a season-best 27. It is the fifth time in her career she's topped the 20-dig plateau.
- The longest rally for either team during the five sets was five points – and each team had one. The Rattlers scored five straight in the second set, while the Hilltoppers scored five consecutive in the fifth set.
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