Volleyball Drops Tightly Contested Match with Eagles

OKLAHOMA CITY — Despite season-highs in kills by Brianna Morris-Worth and in blocks by Dallasstar Johnson, the St. Mary's University Volleyball team couldn't complete the comeback in a four-set loss at Oklahoma Christian on Friday evening.
 
Morris-Worth, a senior from Yukon, Okla., enjoyed playing in her home state, recording a season-high 15 kills and hitting .256 (15-5-39). Johnson, a sophomore from San Antonio, posted seven blocks on the night, tying her season-high from the Lubbock Christian match on Oct. 7. She also added 10 kills with two aces and six digs.
 
The Rattlers (10-13, 5-7 Lone Star Conference) dropped the match 16-25, 23-25, 27-25, 22-25 in an extremely tight match. Both teams totaled 51 kills and were separated by two digs (79-77) and three blocks (11-8). The two teams also saw 29 ties and 13 lead changes throughout the night.
 
Sophomore libero Alyssa Koehl (New Braunfels, Texas) led the team with 19 digs as seven different Rattlers notched five or more digs in the four sets. Sophomore Landri Withers (Stephenville, Texas) was also in double digits with 13, despite not playing the first set.
 
Morris-Worth's 15 kills were also only one shy of her career-high of 16 from Sept. 30, 2022 at Eastern New Mexico. Junior Leah Cruz (Laredo, Texas) added the other two aces for the Rattlers.
 
The Eagles (12-12, 4-7 Lone Star) were led by Giorgia Turri with 19 kills, while Brylie Berryman led the match with 21 digs and Sophie Mae Smith added 20. Megan Rik led OC with six blocks and both Smith and Turri collected three aces each.
 
St. Mary's has another tough match on Saturday, playing at UAFS at 2 p.m. The Lions swept the St. Edward's Hilltoppers earlier on Friday to remain undefeated at home this season.