Wednesday, October 11 • Austin • Recreation and Athletics Center • Battle of the Saints
St. Mary's (8-9, 3-3) at St. Edward's (7-11, 3-3) • 6 p.m.
Friday, October 13 • Silver City, N.M. • Drag's Court
St. Mary's at Western New Mexico (4-15, 0-8) • 7 p.m. CT/6 p.m. MT
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Four Straight: The St. Mary's Volleyball team begins a four-match road trip, playing at St. Edward's on Wednesday for the annual Battle of the Saints and at Western New Mexico on Friday. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. locally.
Series History: The Rattlers hold a 64-57 lead in the Battle of the Saints. StMU is on a two-match winning streak after snapping a seven-match streak for the Hilltoppers. In Austin, the Rattlers are 26-29 all-time. Friday will be only the third match in Silver City for the Rattlers. Western New Mexico holds a slight 9-7 lead in the series, but the Rattlers have won the last two matches, including a 3-1 win in 2021.
Now Appearing: With two service aces last week, junior setter Cali Nims now ranks 19th in St. Mary's history with 78 career aces. She passes Anna Seals (2002-05) and Alissa Tolbert (2018-2021), who are tied for 20th with 77. Nims is two away from knotting Andy Salazar (1996-99) with 80.
Countdown is On: After recording four or more blocks in the last four matches, sophomore MB Dallasstar Johnson is inching closer to the top 20 in three statistical categories on the StMU career charts. She is six solo blocks away from tying Alyssa Werner (1997-98) for 20th on career charts with 25, 18 block assists from tying both Andy Salazar (1996-99) and Megan Isbell (2013-16) for 20th with 143 and 16 total blocks away from tying Salazar and Werner for 20th. Over those two weeks, Johnson has jumped from 0.55 to 0.81 blocks/set. She had 24 blocks in the first 13 matches and has 23 in the last four. In conference matches, Johnson ranks fifth in the league with 1.18 blocks/set.
Aces Are Wild: Five different Rattlers have served 10 or more aces on the year as Cali Nims has 19, Alyssa Koehl and Dallasstar Johnson each have 18, Isabella Waggoner 13 and Landri Withers 11. Freshman Haleigh Wilk also has nine. The Rattlers have served 16 more aces than their opponents and rank sixth in the Lone Star Conference with 1.68 aces per set.
Going Streaking: Junior RS Alicia Virthe has recorded double figures in kills in five-straight matches. It ties for the longest streak of her career, matching the 2021 season, where she had 10 or more kills from Sept. 4 through Sept. 11. In the last five, Virthe has recorded 57 kills (3.17/set) and hit at a .224 clip. The Rattlers are 5-3 this season when Virthe records double digits in kills.
Milestones: Several Rattlers are closing in on career milestones or recently achieved them.
Dallasstar Johnson: 6 aces shy of 50; 6 blocks shy of 150
Alyssa Koehl: 11 digs shy of 700
Aislan Lennon: 37 assists shy of 1,000; 6 aces shy of 50
Brianna Morris-Worth: 10 digs shy of 200; 0.5 points shy of 300
Cali Nims: 52 assists shy of 1,400; 4 digs shy of 600
Lindsey Ogle: 3 kills shy of 400; 100th block vs LCU (100)
Laurene Robinson: 27 kills shy of 200; 14 digs shy of 100
Abbey Stiffler: 26 assists shy of 400
Kelly Swyers: 10 kills shy of 100
Alicia Virthe: 24 kills shy of 400; 5 digs shy of 100
Landri Withers: 500th point vs ENMU (511.5)
