Volleyball Stays Perfect With Pair of Wins at Gorilla Classic

PITTSBURG, Kan. – On the first day of the Gorilla Classic, the St. Mary's Volleyball team won a pair of matches to remain perfect on the season, defeating Truman State in five sets and Northwestern Oklahoma State in four.
 
The 5-0 start for the Rattlers is the second-best start to a season since the squad moved to Division II in 2000 as the 2011 squad began 10-0.
 
In both matches on Friday, the Rattlers recorded season-highs in hitting percentage, hitting .273 in the morning match against the Bulldogs and backing it up with a .321 hitting percentage against the Rangers. The .321 is the best hitting percentage for the Rattlers since they hit .321 against Eastern New Mexico on Sept. 28, 2018.
 
Senior middle blockers Julia Deais (San Antonio) and Rachel McDonald (Indianapolis, Ind.) both returned to the starting lineup after missing the opening weekend. Deais collected 18 kills and hit .444 in the two matches, while McDonald had a solo block in each with six kills.
 
StMU will finish up the Gorilla Classic with a pair of matches on Saturday, playing Sioux Falls at 10 a.m. and wrapping with host Pitt State at 3 p.m.
 
TRUMAN STATE RECAP
It was a tale of two different Rattler teams during the first match of the day as they jumped out to a fast lead winning 25-12 and 25-11. The team cooled off significantly and dropped sets three and four, 18-25, 17-25 before bouncing back in a big way to win the deciding set, 15-6.
 
In the first two sets, the Rattlers had just one hitting errors and hit .522, forcing Truman State into 10 hitting errors and a .073 hitting percentage. In the fifth, StMU also had just one hitting error for a .467 hitting percentage – and they sided out an astounding 83% (5/6).
 
Senior outside hitter Alissa Tolbert (San Antonio) paced the offense, leading the match with 15 kills and a .382 hitting percentage, while freshman right side hitter Alicia Virthe (Orlando, Fla.) chipped in 11 kills. Tolbert also posted her fourth-straight double-double of the year with 11 digs, while senior libero Gabi Sandoval (San Antonio) and sophomore defensive specialist Nadia Manitzas (San Antonio) joined her in double digits with 15 and 11 digs, respectively. Freshman setter Cali Nims (Corpus Christi, Texas) tied for match-high honors with 21 assists, while sophomore Aislan Lennon (Houston) added 19 and both Tolbert and Manitzas had three aces each.
 
NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA STATE RECAP
After dropping a close first set, 25-22, the Rattlers regrouped to win the next three 25-18, 25-17, 25-18 against the Rangers of Northwestern Oklahoma State.
 
Virthe led the Rattlers with 16 kills, hitting .438 and she didn't have her first hitting error until midway through the third set. A trio of others recorded double figures in kills as Tolbert recorded 11 and both sophomore outside hitter Julia Aleman (San Antonio) and Deais added 10. Sandoval collected a match-high 20 digs, while Tolbert was right behind her with 16 – giving her five consecutive double-doubles to begin 2021. Lennon totaled 29 assists to lead the Gold & Blue, while Nims had 20.
 
Deais led the team with her .500 hitting percentage (10-0-20) and four different Rattlers posted one service ace.
 
NWOSU hit .230 for the afternoon, however the Rattlers defense forced them into more and more errors as the match went on as they hit lower in every set. StMU also did a good job of siding out in the three sets they won, winning the point at a 72.7 percent clip (anything over 60% is considered good).
 
Individual Player & Team Notes

• Sophomore OH Mia Martinez recorded a season-best seven kills against NWOSU.
• Sophomore OH Julia Aleman tied her season-high with 10 kills against the Rangers.
• Senior OH Alissa Tolbert posted double-doubles in both matches and now has one in each of the five this season.
• Freshman RS Alicia Virthe hit a season-high with a .438 hitting percentage in the win over NWOSU. She led the team with 16 kills (16-2-149). 
• The .321 hitting percentage for the team from the Northwestern Oklahoma State match is the best for the team since Sept. 25, 2018 against Eastern New Mexico, where the Rattlers also hit .321.

 
Tournament Results
Thurs.      Pitt State 3, Truman State 0
Fri.            Pitt State 3, Northwestern Oklahoma State 0
                  St. Mary's 3, Truman State 2
                  Pitt State 3, Sioux Falls 2
                  St. Mary's 3, Northwestern Oklahoma State 1
                  Truman vs. Sioux Falls, 7:30 p.m.
Sat.           St. Mary's vs. Sioux Falls, 10 a.m.
                  Truman vs. Northwestern Oklahoma State, 12:30 p.m.
                  Pitt State vs. St. Mary's, 3:00 p.m.
                  Sioux Falls vs Northwestern Oklahoma State, 5:30 p.m.