Friday, October 28 • Tyler • Louise Herrington Patriot Center
St. Mary's (14-10, 10-3) at UT Tyler (15-8, 8-4) • 6 p.m
Saturday, October 22 • Dallas • Burg Center
St. Mary's at DBU (20-5, 11-2) • 1 p.m.
Road Warriors: The Rattlers will play matches 17 and 18 on the road this season when they take on a pair of Patriots in UT Tyler on Friday and DBU on Saturday. The regular season concludes on Wednesday at Texas A&M Kingsville.
Tournament Bound: For the second-straight season, the Rattlers have qualified for the Lone Star Conference Championship, doing so with the four-set win over UAFS on Saturday. The top eight seeds will travel to the top-seed Nov. 10-12. West Texas A&M currently holds the number one spot in the league at 13-0.
Regionally Ranked: In the most recent regional rankings by the NCAA, St. Mary's is 11th in the South Central region which includes both the Lone Star and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conferences. The 8-2 record over the last 10 matches for the Rattlers is tied for the fifth best mark in the tough region.
It's A Match: St. Mary's has already matched its win total from a season ago at 14 and has at least four matches left to the 2022 campaign. In 2021, Head Coach Laura Ulrich's inaugural season, the Rattlers finished 14-11, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Lone Star Tournament.
Balanced Attack: Six different Rattlers have recorded at least 100 kills this season, while freshman Laurene Robinson needs nine to join the club. Freshman Landri Withers leads the team with 252, while junior Lindsey Ogle is second at 147. It is the first time since 2016 the Rattlers have had at least six players hit the century mark in kills. That club finished 14-14 overall and 6-8 in Heartland Conference play.
Series Histories: Friday will be the second meeting between the Rattlers at UT Tyler. The Patriots swept StMU in the first meeting a season ago. With the loss earlier this season, the Rattlers are now 17-24 all-time against DBU with a 5-14 mark on the Patriots home floor
It's An Honor: Freshman MB Dallasstar Johnson was named the LSC Defensive Player of the Week after helping lead StMU to a pair of sweeps over UT Permian Basin and Angelo State. Johnson averaged 2.67 kills, 2.17 block and 0.83 aces/set, all while hitting .500. She tied her own StMU single-match record (three sets) with 10 block, helping hold the Falcons to a .047 hitting percentage.
Guaranteed: St. Mary's is guaranteed its second-straight month of a winning record as they are 7-1 in the October with two matches remaining. In September, the Rattlers went 7-5.
A Withering Glare: Landri Withers smashed the 250th kill of her career in the win over UAFS and stands at 252. Withers is currently leading the team with 3.07 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.
Double Trouble: Both junior S Aislan Lennon and sophomore S Cali Nims now rank in the top 20 in St. Mary's career history in double-doubles. Lennon is tied for 11th with 18 to her credit, while Nims is 16th with 15. The all-time school record is 60 held by both Breann Alexander (2000-02) and Kristelle Rodriguez (2000-02). Alexander's were all double figures in both kills and digs, while Rodriguez notched all 60 of hers in assists and digs.
