SAN ANTONIO — In keeping with recent tradition, the St. Mary's University Volleyball team swept the opposition on Saturday afternoon, defeating Cameron 25-13, 25-11, 25-10 for its seventh-straight straight-sets victory.
The Rattlers are now 12-3 overall and 4-0 in Lone Star Conference play for the first time in school history. Cameron is 0-14 and 0-4 in league action.
Senior defensive specialist
Leah Cruz (Laredo, Texas) served a total of 21 times in the match, while the Aggies only had 35 serves through the three sets. Cruz stepped to the line with the Rattlers leading 12-11 in the second set, and she finished the set at the line, serving 13 straight points. During the stretch, junior outside hitter
Landri Withers (Stephenville, Texas) smashed six kills, while sophomore middle blocker
Olivia Rubio (San Antonio) recorded two solo blocks and teamed up for two more block assists.
For the match, Withers posted a season-high 16 kills, only two fewer than the entire Cameron team, and she hit an astounding .625 (16-1-24). Senior
Alicia Virthe (Orlando, Fla.) stayed hot, hitting .474 for the day (10-1-19), and she added three blocks.
Rubio added five kills and recorded a career-high six blocks after having the four in the second set, while junior libero
Alyssa Koehl (New Braunfels, Texas) collected a match-high 13 digs.
St. Mary's posted seven service aces by seven different players – including the first of her collegiate career by freshman
Kaylee Cavazos (San Antonio), who had two digs to go along with the ace.
The Rattlers hit .415 for the match, the fifth-best hitting percentage in school history in a three-set match and the third-best since volleyball moved to rally scoring in 2008. The team recorded only six unforced errors the entire day.
The Rattlers remain at home next week, hosting UT Tyler on Friday for Pink Out Night and DBU on Saturday. UT Tyler is tied with the Rattlers atop the LSC standings at 4-0, while DBU is 3-1.
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