Volleyball Can't Sustain Lead in Odessa

ODESSA, Texas — After hitting .262 in the opening set, the St. Mary's University Volleyball team struggled to find its rhythm in the final three sets, dropping a four-set match at UT Permian Basin on Thursday evening. The set scores were 25-21, 19-25, 19-25, 25-27.

The Rattlers (14-10, 6-7) did bounce back in the fourth set and force the Falcons (13-9, 6-7) to score extra points to get the win at home, but they couldn't score two in a row to force a fifth set.

St. Mary's used a balanced attack, with three hitters garnering double figures in kills led by junior Landri Withers (Stephenville, Texas) with 15. Freshman Taylor Alston (San Antonio) was right behind her with 14, and senior Alicia Virthe (Orlando, Fla.) added 13. Senior setter Cali Nims (Corpus Christi, Texas) also called her own number enough for her to record six kills on 15 swings with no errors. 

Nims added a double-double with 45 assists and 11 digs and was one of five Rattlers to hit double-digits in digs. Junior libero Alyssa Koehl (New Braunfels, Texas) tied for match-high honors with 18, while senior Leah Cruz (Laredo, Texas) recorded 12, and both Withers and Brianna Morris-Worth (Yukon, Okla.) chipped in 10 each. Morris-Worth also led the team with three blocks, recording two solo stops, and she tied for team-high honors with two aces, along with Koehl and Virthe.

Alston recorded the 100th kill of her career in the fourth set. She's recorded double figures in six of the eight matches since moving to the starting lineup. Koehl also recorded the 300th assist of her career, and Withers leaped up three places on the career kills list to 14th after she pounded 15 on the night. Withers climbs past Karlie Ortega (782 kills, 2010-13), Yasmin Elkhatib (776, 2000-03) and Sarah Moreno (772, 2004-08) as she began the night ranked 17th with 769 kills. Virthe joined her in jumping up the list, as she is now tied for 18th with 753 kills, passing Andy Salazar (747, 1996-99) to tie both Jackie Jansky (1997-00) and Jenna Paul (2012-15).

The Rattlers continue heading west, as they will close out the week at Western New Mexico on Saturday at 7 p.m. (CT)/6 p.m. (MT). The Mustangs dropped a straight-sets decision to St. Edward's on Thursday.