Volleyball Set for Pair of Home Matches

Dig Pink Match
Friday, October 14 • San Antonio • Bill Greehey Arena
UT Permian Basin (10-9, 5-3) at St. Mary's (10-9, 6-2) • 6 p.m.

Saturday, October 15 • San Antonio • Bill Greehey Arena
Angelo State (10-10, 6-2) at St. Mary's • 2 p.m.

Important Week: The Rattlers host an important week for the Lone Star Conference standings, facing UT Permian Basin on Friday, which is one match back of the Rattlers and Angelo State on Saturday, which is currently tied with StMU for fourth place.

Dig Pink: Friday's match against UT Permian Basin will be Breast Cancer Awareness Night for the Rattlers. Donations for Alamo Breast Cancer Foundation can be made at the match. Wear your pink and support the cause!

On A Roll: The Rattlers have won six of their last seven matches and are now 6-2 in Lone Star Conference play and tied for fourth place in the standings. The team has a 20-11 set advantage against conference foes and the team is hitting almost 40 points higher since conference play began. The four-match winning streak is the longest of the year for the Rattlers and the longest since the 2021 team won the first six of the year.

A Withering Glare: Freshman Landri Withers needs just five more kills to record the 200th of the season. Withers is currently leading the team with 2.95 kills/set, which is the second-highest season average in St. Mary's history for a freshman. In 2004, Morgan Spencer averaged 3.68 kills/set to rank second on that team.

D-D-Defense: For the second-time this season, the Rattlers topped the century mark in digs with 103 in the win over St. Edward's on Wednesday. A season ago, the team posted three 100+ dig matches after having only one in 2020 and one in 2018 (none in 2019).

Steady Improvement: In conference matches only, the Rattlers lead the league in digs/set, averaging 19.29. Texas A&M International ranks second with 19 per set. The 12.94 kills/set also rank fourth and the Rattlers are one of the hardest teams in the league to block, as opponents are getting only 1.39/set which is third out of the 17 teams. StMU is hitting .193, which ranks fifth in the Lone Star Conference. 

Series Histories: With the win earlier in the season against UT Permian Basin, the Rattlers now hold the slight 13-12 in the all-time series. This will be the first time since 2015 the Falcons have come to Bill Greehey Arena. Angelo State holds a 24-15 edge in the 39 meetings with StMU. The Rattlers are looking to snap a seven-match losing skid to the Rambelles.

Aces High: St. Mary's ranks third in the Lone Star Conference in aces per set with 1.62, but has no players ranked among the top 15. Five different Rattlers have 10 or more aces this season, led by sophomore S Cali Nims with 21. In fact, all 14 players who have attempted a serve this year have multiple aces.

That's Efficient: Against Western New Mexico on Friday, the Rattlers hit a season-best .297 for the match, recording only eight unforced errors in the three sets. It is 17 points higher than the previous season-high of .280 against Cameron on Sept. 23.

Double Deuces: Setter Cali Nims tied her career high with 22 digs in the win over St. Edward's, matching her output from the previous week at Eastern New Mexico. It was also her third-straight double-double and seventh of the season.