Volleyball Grits Out Win Over Greyhounds

PORTALES, N.M. – Back out on the road again, the St. Mary's Volleyball Team buckled down and got better as the match progressed, winning in five sets at Eastern New Mexico, 23-25, 26-24, 23-25, 29-27, 15-7.
 
Sophomore setter Cali Nims (Corpus Christi, Texas) and freshman setter Abbey Stiffler (York, Pa.) seemed to find the hot hitter all night as the team hit .217 – including .400 (11-1-25) in the deciding fifth set.
 
Both setters notched double-doubles with Nims recording 38 assists and 22 digs for the Rattlers (7-9, 3-2 Lone Star Conference). The assists are one shy of her career-high of 39 from last season at UT Permian Basin and the digs is a career-high, shattering her previous high mark of 17 from a year ago against Angelo State. Stiffler added a career-high 26 assists and tied her career-high with 12 digs.
 
Freshman middle blocker Dallasstar Johnson (San Antonio) did not have a hitting error the entire night, tallying a career-high 13 kills for a .542 hitting percentage (13-0-24).
 
Junior outside hitter Brianna Morris-Worth (Yukon, Okla.) and freshman Landri Withers (Stephensville, Texas) tied for the team lead with 16 kills each. Withers also notched her third double-double with 12 digs and she led the Rattlers with four blocks.
 
After dropping a close first set, the Rattlers had to dig deep to even the match at one set each. StMU jumped out to a 12-3 early lead, but the Greyhounds (9-9, 0-6 Lone Star) chipped away to tie the score at 17-17, as well as 23-23 and 24-24. Sophomore Alicia Virthe (Orlando, Fla.) got a kill and freshman libero Alyssa Koehl (New Braunfels, Texas) posted the team's first ace of the night for set point.
 
Koehl ended the night tied for match-high honors with 25 digs, bettering her previous career-high by one dig (24 at Central Oklahoma, Sept. 2).
 
The Rattlers dropped the third set by the same score as the first, 25-23, but again fought through to win the fourth set in extra points. Tied at 27-27, junior Lindsey Ogle (Houston) smartly went high hands off the ENMU block and due to the team being short on substitutions, Virthe stepped back to the service line for her only serve of the night, which was shanked into the net to set up the final set.
 
Leading 4-3 in the fifth stanza, the Rattlers scored 10 of the next 12 points with kills by five different players and a huge solo block by Ogle as they went on to win 15-7.
 
The Gold & Blue remain on the road, playing at Lubbock Christian on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Lady Chaps also won in five sets on Friday, beating St. Edward's.
 
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER & TEAM NOTES

• The Rattlers recorded over 100 digs for the first time in 2022, getting 102 on the night. It is the most since the team had 106 at St. Edward's on Oct. 14, 2021.
• For the first time this season, three Rattlers collected double-doubles as Cali Nims (38 assists, 22 digs), Abbey Stiffler (26 assists, 12 digs) and Landri Withers (16 kills, 12 digs) all did so. It is Nims fifth, Stiffler's second and Withers' third double-doubles of the season.
• St. Mary's won both the second and fourth sets via the service ace. The Rattlers had only four aces all night.
• Landri Withers led the team with four blocks, but five others had three each as StMU outblocked ENMU 11-7.
• For the first time all year, the Rattlers used the libero for a left side hitter, instead of the normal middle blocker spot. Freshman Dallasstar Johnson moved into a primary passer position in the third set and had 12 receptions.