LONE STAR CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
Thursday, November 10 • Canyon • "The Box"
St. Mary's (14-13) at Texas A&M International (22-7) • 12 p.m.
Friday, November 11 • Canyon • "The Box"
Winner vs DBU/UAFS Match Winner • 5 p.m.
Saturday, November 12 • Canyon • "The Box"
Championship Match • 4 p.m.
It's Tourney Time: St. Mary's earned the sixth-seed in the 2022 Lone Star Conference Championship, qualifying for the second-straight year. The Rattlers face Texas A&M International in the first of four quarterfinals at Noon at West Texas A&M on Thursday.
Last Time Out: The Rattlers dropped a heartbreaker in the regular season finale at Texas A&M Kingsville, falling 15-13 in the fifth set. Freshman Landri Withers recorded a career-high 19 kills, while senior Sadie Hough added a season-high 14 and freshman Laurene Robinson chipped in a career-best 13.
Digs-a-Plenty: At Kingsville, the Rattlers totaled a season-best 126 digs, which ties the school record for most in a match with the 2007 team from Sept. 29 at UT Permian Basin. Dani Gray (11), Alyssa Koehl (29), Brianna Morris-Worth (24), Laurene Robinson (8) and Abbey Stiffler (20) all collected career-high totals, while Cali Nims (12) and Landri Withers (15) both hit double figures. The 29 digs for Koehl gave her 400 for the season.
First-Ever: 2022 marks the first-ever winning record in Lone Star Conference play for the Rattlers in the fourth season in the league. The 10 wins in league action are also the most since 2013 (10-8) and tie for the most against conference foes since the school joined the Division II ranks in 2000.Â
Series History: St. Mary's owns a 20-14 edge in the all-time series against Texas A&M International, but has lost four straight to the Dustdevils. The two teams have never met on a neutral court or in postseason play. The Rattlers are 69-123 all-time against the remainder of the field: Angelo State (16-24), DBU (17-25), Texas A&M Kingsville (29-27), UAFS (5-22), UT Tyler (0-2) and West Texas A&M (2-23).
Balanced Attack: Seven different Rattlers have recorded at least 100 kills this season. Freshman Landri Withers leads the team with 282, while junior Lindsey Ogle is second at 152. 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.
Aces Are Wild: St. Mary's ranks second in the Lone Star Conference with 1.67 aces per set. That average currently ranks as the fourth-best mark in school history and is the best since the 2007 team averaged a school-best 1.90 per set. Six different Rattlers have at least 12 aces on the year, led by sophomore S Cali Nims with 29 (0.30). This season, eight different Rattlers have had three or more aces in a match. Nims, Aislan Lennon and Landri Withers have each done so three times.
Closing In: Cali Nims is 49 assists shy of 1,000 for her career and is 21 away from matching her freshman total of 486. Lindsey Ogle needs 17 kills for 400 and two blocks for 100 in her career. Dallasstar Johnson is six blocks shy of 100 and Landri Withers needs 18 kills for 300.
A Withering Glare: Landri Withers added a career-best 19 kills in the regular season finale at Texas A&M Kingsville and stands at 282. She leads the team with 3.03 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
Block Party: The Rattlers are averaging 2.133 blocks per set, which is the third-highest average in school history. The 2000 team owns the school record with 2.61 blocks per set.
