Volleyball Splits Day Two of Tiger-Reddie Invitational

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — Laurene Robinson continued to have a breakout start to her junior season for the St. Mary's University Volleyball team as she recorded another career-high in kills to help lift the Rattlers to a split on day two at the Tiger-Reddie Invitational.
 
St. Mary's (3-1) lost a hard-fought four-set battle with one of the two hosts of the tournament, Henderson State, falling 21-25, 17-25, 25-11, 18-25 before rebounding to close the weekend with a four-set win over Missouri S&T, 25-18, 18-25, 25-15, 27-25.
 
Robinson (Bedford, Texas) and senior right-side hitter Alicia Virthe (Orlando, Fla.) were each named to the All-Tournament team after their outstanding performances through the four matches. Robinson led the Rattlers with 17 kills in the win over the Miners, surpassing the career-high of 16 she set on Friday against Southeastern Oklahoma State. She also hit .283 (17-4-46) in the match and led the team with 13 kills in the loss to the Reddies, hitting .370 (13-3-37).
 
The Rattlers head home to host the Rattler Invitational beginning on Sept. 13. St. Mary's welcomes Anderson (SC), East Central, Tampa and Texas A&M International to Bill Greehey Arena for the first home tournament since 2013.
 
Henderson State Recap
The Rattlers used a balanced attack to disrupt the Reddies in the first match of the day. Robinson led the team with 13 kills, while fellow junior outside hitter Landri Withers (Stephenville, Texas) put down 11 kills and Virthe chipped in 10.
 
Junior libero Alyssa Koehl (New Braunfels, Texas) led the match with 17 digs and Withers posted her first double-double of the year after collecting 15 digs. She also served a team-best three aces. For the third-straight match junior middle blocker Dallasstar Johnson (San Antonio) paced the team in the block category, ending with five.
 
Christiane Uzoh led HSU with 18 kills on a .484 hitting percentage (18-4-33). She and Larkin Luke each had four blocks, and Madison Hatt recorded three aces as the home team went 4-0 in the tournament.
 
The Rattlers won the third set in lopsided fashion, 25-11, for the biggest margin of victory this year. It was also the only set Henderson State dropped in the tournament. Robinson was huge in the set, putting down eight kills on 13 swings with no errors, while Withers anchored the defense with nine digs and two aces.
 
Missouri S&T Recap
Defense led to offense for the Rattlers in the four-set win over the Miners. Koehl (19), Withers (14) and senior setter Cali Nims (12) each reached double digits in digs, giving StMU a pair of double-doubles for the first time in 2024 as Nims had 42 assists, and Withers totaled 13 kills.
 
Nims also used her stellar float serve to create havoc, serving five aces as the Rattlers amassed nine aces with only four errors. The five aces are a career-high for Nims and tie for the fourth-most in a four-set match in school history.
 
For the fourth-straight match, Johnson led the team in blocks with three and she had the team's only solo stop of the night.
 
Alina Carrillo led the match with 25 kills and 17 digs for the Miners, while Madison Offerman disrupted the Rattlers with eight blocks.
 
In the fourth set, trailing 23-21, Head Coach Laura Ulrich called a timeout to settle down her team. She inserted sophomore setter Haleigh Wilk (Salado, Texas), who immediately recorded a kill. Nims served back-to-back aces to give StMU match point, but MS&T forced extra points with a kill. Sophomore Olivia Rubio (San Antonio) posted a kill to set up a second-match point, which the Rattlers took advantage of with Johnson and Virthe combining on a block for the 27-25 victory.
 
Notes

• Cali Nims moved up one spot into sixth in school history with 1,713 assists. She passes Rachael Scicchitano (2013-16), who totaled 1,703 in her four years. She also jumped from a tie for 17th to a tie for 14th in school history, as she has 91 service aces. Nims totaled seven aces in the four matches over the weekend.
• The Rattlers are one of eight teams in the Lone Star Conference to start 3-1. Oklahoma Christian went 4-0 and is the only undefeated team (which played) remaining (Sul Ross did not play).
• Alyssa Koehl added 36 digs in the two matches on Saturday, bringing her career total to 961. She needs 39 more to top the 1,000-dig milestone.
• Freshman Taylor Alston saw her first collegiate action against Missouri S&T, posting a kill in her lone swing.
• Freshman Kaitlyn Kirschner recorded a career-best four blocks against Henderson State with one solo stop and three assists.