Volleyball Begins Postseason Play

This Week in Rattlers Volleyball
Lone Star Conference Championship 
Thursday, Nov. 21 • St. Mary's (17-10) vs. UT Tyler (17-7) • 12 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 22 • Semifinals • 5 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 23 • Finals • 6 p.m.

Tournament Time: For the third time since joining the Lone Star Conference in 2019, the St. Mary's Volleyball team is headed to the conference tournament. The Rattlers are the sixth seed and will face third-seeded UT Tyler in the quarterfinals on Thursday at Noon. StMU is looking for its first-ever win in the tournament, losing in the quarterfinals in both 2021 and 2022.

All-Time vs UT Tyler: The Rattlers are 1-3 all-time against UT Tyler in a series that began when the two teams joined the Lone Star Conference in 2019. The last two meetings have gone the distance, with each team winning one in five. This will be the first match between the teams in post-season play.

In the First Meeting: It was as close as a match could get inside Bill Greehey Arena, as St. Mary's snapped a seven-match winning streak with a heartbreaking five-set loss to UT Tyler 24-26, 23-25, 28-26, 25-19, 9-15. Senior Alicia Virthe led the Rattlers with 17 kills, and she only had two errors on 41 swings for a .366 hitting percentage. Junior Dallasstar Johnson added 14 kills and a match-high six blocks. Cali Nims was three kills shy of her first triple-double, recording seven kills with 45 assists and 13 digs. She also tied her career-high with four blocks as the Rattlers out-blocked the Patriots 12-to-4. Junior libero Alyssa Koehl and UTT libero Addison Evans tied for match-high honors with 28 digs. Both graduated from Canyon HS in New Braunfels.

Against the Rest of the Field: The Rattlers dropped matches to the five teams seeded ahead of them in the tournament, but are 3-0 against the two teams seeded seventh and eighth. The Rattlers took Angelo State, UT Tyler and DBU to five sets and the only sweep was by #5 West Texas A&M.

Setting the Table: Senior setter Cali Nims earned the final Lone Star Conference Setter of the Week honor of the 2024 season after helping lead the Rattlers to a 2-0 record. She earns her second award after averaging 10.88 assists and 2.38 digs per set. Nims posted her 16th double-double of the year in the win over TAMIU with 51 assists and 11 digs, distributing the ball well as the team hit .255. In the Battle of the Saints victory, she recorded 36 assists, eight digs, three kills, and a pair of aces.

Meant To Be Broken: Senior Alicia Virthe broke the St. Mary's single-season record for points in the modern scoring rally (2008). She has 417.5 points this season, breaking the record of 405 by Channing Hankins from 2015. Virthe is averaging 4.1 points per set this year.  She is also three aces from tying the modern ace record of 46 by Monica Ramon from 2017. Virthe's next ace ties Victorria Martinez (2012) for second on the list.

Meant to Be Broken, Part II: Senior setter Cali Nims needs only 11 assists to break the single-season rally scoring record for assist. She has 1,091 assists, while Bree Perry (2017) holds the record at 1,101. Nims mark of 10.70 assist per set will shatter the rally record of 9.91 by Allie Murray in 2011.

Finding A Way: The 17 wins by St. Mary's are the most since the 2017 team went 19-12 and won the Heartland Conference Tournament. The team enters the Lone Star Conference Tournament on a three-match winning streak.

Aces High: Senior Alicia Virthe went from not serving the first three seasons of her collegiate career, to being tied for the Lone Star Conference lead in her final campaign. Virthe has 43 aces this year (0.42/set) which ties Elisa Carli from Texas A&M Kingsville for the league lead. The 43 aces is also third on the StMU single-season rally-scoring format charts.

The Best in the Lone Star: Junior libero Alyssa Koehl recorded the highest dig total in the Lone Star Conference this season and the ninth-highest in DII with her 41 digs at Eastern New Mexico on Oct. 25. It is also tied for the fourth-most in a single match in St. Mary's history and tied for the most in the modern scoring format (since 2008).

Top 20: Alyssa Koehl is averaging 5.37 digs per set this season, which leads the Lone Star Conference and ranks 21st in the nation. Her 548 total digs also ranks 22nd in the Division II statistics. She's reached double figures in every match this season, in 42 in a row, and 75 times in her career. 

Double Digit Kills: Both senior Alicia Virthe and junior Landri Withers have recorded 10 or more kills 42 times in their career and are now tied for 8th all-time at St. Mary's. Breann Alexander (2000-02) holds the all-time record, getting to double digits 84 times in her career.

Closing In: Senior setter Cali Nims moved up two spots to 17th on the career digs chart with 992, needing only eight more for the 1000 dig milestone. She will be the third setter in school history with 2,000 assists and 1,000 digs. Kristelle Rodriguez (1999-02) had 5,310 assists and 1,426 digs, while Allie Murray (2009-12) recorded 2,435 assists and 1,193 digs.

Double Trouble: Both senior setter Cali Nims and junior outside hitter Landri Withers rank in the top 10 in St. Mary's history in double-doubles. Nims is third with 45 (assists-digs) in her career, passing former teammate Alissa Tolbert (2018-21) who had 44, while Withers is currently eighth with 28 (kills-digs). 

Digging It: According to the NCAA website, there are 159 current Division II players with 1,000 career digs and St. Mary's libero Alyssa Koehl is one of only 24 juniors on the list. There are nine active players in the Lone Star to have reached the 1,000-dig milestone. Koehl ranks 42nd among active DII players with 1,391.

Name    School    Digs

6. Daylee Doggett    DBU    2,133

39. Caleigh Enax    ASU    1,465

42. Alyssa Koehl    StMU    1,431

43. Bryli Contreras    WT    1,430

52. Addison Evans    UTT    1,364

60. Lixai Perez    TAMIU    1,341

103. Riley Daugherty    OC    1,139

104. Getsamani Carrasco    WT    1,124

128. Delaney Fuller    DBU    1,067

Closing In: Several Rattlers are closing in on career milestones or are close to moving up the career leaders list in St. Mary's history:

Name    Category    Milestone    Needs

Alyssa Koehl    Digs    5th place    57

Madi Milligan    Blocks    50    6

Cali Nims    Assists    4th place    52

Cali Nims    Digs    1,000    8

Alicia Virthe    Kills    800    9

Landri Withers    Kills    13th place    31