LSC Tournament Preview • Kingsville • Gil E Steinke Physical Education Center
Thursday, September 14
St. Mary's (5-3) vs. UAFS (6-2) • 3 p.m.
Friday, September 15
St. Mary's vs. Angelo State (8-1) • 3 p.m.
Saturday, September 16
St. Mary's at Texas A&M Kingsville (6-2) • 3 p.m.
Week Three: St. Mary's squares off with three Lone Star Conference foes in non-conference action at the LSC Tournament Preview in Kingsville. The Rattlers take on UAFS (6-2), Angelo State (8-1) and Texas A&M Kingsville (6-2) with one match each day at 3 p.m.
Series History: The Rattlers trail in the series with UAFS 5-22, but did win the last meeting, a four-set victory on Oct. 22 last season. The Lions have won both meetings on a neutral court. The Rattlers are also trailing 16-24 in the all-time series with Angelo State, but StMU swept the Rambelles in the last meeting this past October. ASU holds a 9-5 edge in neutral court matches. The Rattlers own the 32-30 edge in the series with Texas A&M Kingsville but are looking to snap an eight-match losing skid. The two teams played an instant classic a season ago in the regular season finale going five sets with several Rattlers posting career-highs.
Looking Back: The Rattlers went 3-1 at the Iceman Invitational in Odessa last week, sweeping Southwest (NM), Minnesota-Crookston and Sul Ross State before dropping a five-setter to UT Permian Basin in a non-conference match. Both junior S Cali Nims and sophomore OH Landri Withers were named to the All-Tournament team. Withers averaged 3.45 kills and 2.82 digs per set throughout the weekend, while Nims averaged 6.00 assists and 2.08 digs per set. She also collected six ace serves and helped the team to a .231 hitting percentage.
Double Trouble: Sophomore libero Alyssa Koehl recorded 10 or more digs in all nine matches this season and now has 29 double digit dig totals in her career. She is averaging 4.17 digs per set this season and surpassed the 500 dig milestone against Minnesota-Crookston and sits at 546.
Setting the Table: Junior setter Cali Nims moved into the top 10 in St. Mary's history in assists against UT Permian Basin on Saturday. Nims has 1,145 assists, passing Ginger Grimes (1996) with 1,083 and Shelly Wilson (2003-04) with 1,123 assists and needs nine more to take over ninth place from Sondra Cui (2008-09) with 1,153.
Aces Are Wild: The Rattlers have recorded more service aces than the opponent in six of the first eight matches and their 2.07 aces per set ranks second in the Lone Star Conference. Both junior S Cali Nims (12) and sophomore MB Dallasstar Johnson (10) already have double digit ace totals, while sophomore L Alyssa Koehl (9) and freshman S Haleigh Wilk (8) are closing in on 10.
Milestones: Several Rattlers are closing in on career milestones or recently achieved them.
Josie Disponette: 100th kill at UT Permian Basin, 9/9 (104)
Dallasstar Johnson: 14 kills shy of 200
Alyssa Koehl: 500th dig vs Minn.-Crookston, 9/8 (546)
Aislan Lennon: 5 assists shy of 900; 11 digs shy of 400
Brianna Morris-Worth: 200th kill vs Sul Ross, 9/8 (217)
Cali Nims: 500th dig at UT Permian Basin, 9/9 (507)
Lindsey Ogle: 9 kills shy of 400; 1 block shy of 100
Alicia Virthe: 300th kill at UT Permian Basin, 9/9 (300)
Isabella Waggoner: 6 digs shy of 100
Spreading the Wealth: Eleven Rattlers are averaging at least 1.00 kill per set this season and three are averaging over 2.00 per set. Landri Withers leads the team (2.77), while Alicia Virthe (2.50) is second and Brianna Morris-Worth (2.04) is third. All 19 players on the roster have played and 10 have played in at least 2/3 of the sets.
