DENTON, Texas — Despite winning the opening set against Texas Woman's, the St. Mary's University Volleyball team was unable to sustain the pressure, falling in four sets 25-21, 19-25, 16-25, 23-25 on Friday night.
The Rattlers (12-6, 4-3) were led offensively by junior outside hitter
Landri Withers (Stephenville, Texas) with 15 kills, while senior right-side hitter
Alicia Virthe (Orlando, Fla.) was right behind her with 14. Withers also added 11 digs for her ninth double-double of the season.
Senior
Cali Nims (Corpus Christi, Texas) became only the fourth setter in school history to record 40 assists and 20 digs in the same match, as she had 42 assists and a career-high 20 digs. Kristelle Rodriguez (1999-02) recorded the feat five times, while Allie Murray (2009-12) did so twice, and Ashley Bird (2002-05) did so once. The double-double for Nims is the 10th of the year.
The defense was paced by junior libero
Alyssa Koehl (New Braunfels, Texas) with a match-high 26 digs, pushing Koehl over the 20-dig milestone for the ninth time this year and the 24th time of her career. Sophomore
Olivia Rubio (San Antonio) tied for match-high honors with four blocks. She's had three or more blocks in nine consecutive matches.
St. Mary's recorded more kills (56-to-54) and more digs (84-to-80) than the Pioneers (12-5, 5-2) but were much higher in errors, making 19 unforced hitting errors and missing eight serves.
TWU had four players post double figures in kills, led by Cara Pool with 15, while five players totaled 10 or more digs to win its fifth straight match.
The match was the first of a four-game road trip for the Rattlers, as they play at Midwestern State on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Mustangs swept St. Edward's on Friday evening.
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