Volleyball Wins Both on Day One of Britkare Classic

CANYON, Texas – Serving and passing are two huge keys to success in volleyball and the St. Mary's University Volleyball team capitalized on those two aspects of the game on Friday in winning a pair of matches at the Britkare Lady Buff Classic on the campus of West Texas A&M.
 
The Rattlers defeated Davenport in five sets (25-17, 21-25, 22-25, 25-18, 15-9) and came back in the afternoon for a three-set victory over Adams State (25-13, 25-15, 25-22).
 
The team combined for 22 service aces in the two matches and hit .310 against Adams State, making only nine unforced errors the entire match. 
 
StMU plays at 9 a.m. on Saturday against East Central and closes the tournament at 2 p.m. against #1 West Texas A&M.
 
DAVENPORT RECAP
The Rattlers ended how they began in the five-set thriller, with an ace serve. Junior setter Cali Nims (Corpus Christi, Texas) started the match with one, while sophomore libero Alyssa Koehl (New Braunfels, Texas) served one on match point for the 25-17, 21-25, 22-25, 25-18, 15-9 victory against Davenport.
 
StMU collected 12 aces in the match, led by freshman Haleigh Wilk (Salado, Texas) with three aces in her three sets of action. 
 
Junior Alicia Virthe (Orlando, Fla.) posted 14 kills to lead the team and added a career-best eight digs, bettering her previous high of seven from last season against St. Edward's. Sophomore Landri Withers (Stephenville, Texas) posted a double-double with 13 kills and a team-high tying 12 digs for the eighth double-double of her career.
 
Both Koehl and sophomore defensive specialist Isabella Waggoner (Texas City, Texas) tied Withers with 12 digs each and Nims notched the 17th double-double of her career with 10 digs and a match-high 29 assists.
 
Lindsay Taylor led the Panthers with 16 kills, while libero Stephanie Kalinowski led the match with 15 digs and tied for match-high honors with three aces. Emma Turnquist also had four blocks.
 
ADAMS STATE RECAP
The Rattlers kept their foot on the gas pedal in the afternoon match, sweeping Adams State 25-13, 25-15, 25-22. A total of 10 of the 75 points came from service aces as both Withers and sophomore Dallasstar Johnson (San Antonio) posted three each.
 
Koehl led all players with 18 digs – including 10 in the first set – and Nims added her second double-double with 17 assists and 10 digs.
 
Senior Brianna Morris-Worth (Yukon, Okla.) was fantastic, leading all players with 12 kills and hitting .435 (12-2-23). She and fellow senior Josie Disponette (Wilmore, Kent.) each tallied two blocks.
 
The Rattlers sided out at an extremely high percentage for the entire match, hitting 76 percent in set one, 75 in set two and 50 in the third and final set.