This Week in Rattlers Volleyball
Friday, Oct. 17 • DBU (10-4, 4-2) at St. Mary's (7-10, 4-3) • 6 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 18 • Texas Woman's (11-6, 4-2) at St. Mary's • 2 p.m. (PINK OUT)
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Home For Four: The St. Mary's Volleyball team begins a four-match homestand on Friday, hosting DBU and welcoming Texas Woman's on Saturday for Pink Out Day in rematches of the LSC Preview Tournament from a month ago.
A Look Back: In Denton on Sept. 18-19, the Rattlers defeated TWU in four sets before falling to DBU in three at the LSC Preview Tournament. Senior Landri Withers had 19 kills and 19 digs in the win over the Pioneers, while Alyssa Koehl had three aces and 24 digs and Dallasstar Johnson collected five blocks. Withers added 14 kills against DBU, while she and Johnson each had three aces, Koehl led with 15 digs and Johnson tallied four blocks. Liz Salinas had 22 assists against TWU, while Haleigh Wilk matched that number against DBU.
History With DBU: The Patriots now hold a 28-17 lead in the all-time series after sweeping the Rattlers on Sept. 19. The Rattlers are 6-12 against DBU in San Antonio and have lost six straight in the meetings, dating back to 2019. Since joining the Lone Star Conference, DBU has won seven of the eight matches.
History With TWU: The four set win for the Rattlers on Sept. 18, pushed them ahead 11-10 in the all-time series with the Pioneers that started in 1985. St. Mary's snapped a three-match losing skid and this is only the fifth time (1-3) the two teams have played inside Bill Greehey Arena.
Doubling Down: Five different Rattlers have posted a double-double this season. It is the most athletes since the seven in 2019 totaled 27 double-doubles throughout the year. This season's team has 17 thus far, as Laurene Robinson has three, Liz Salinas one, Abbey Stiffler one, Haleigh Wilk five and Landri Withers leads the team with seven.
Keeping Watch: Senior Landri Withers surpassed the 900 dig milestone on Saturday at Texas A&M-Kingsville and now looks to become only the third player in St. Mary's history with both 1,000 career kills and digs. Breann Alexander (1999-02) recorded 1,582 kills and 1,343 digs in her standout career, while Jennifer Johnson totaled 1,109 kills and 1,001 digs. Withers currently has 1,072 kills and 907 digs to her name with 10 matches remaining in the regular season.
Going Streaking: Senior Dallasstar Johnson has served up at least one ace in the last five matches. It is the longest active streak on the team and tied for the third longest this season behind the seven-straight matches junior Haleigh Wilk started the year with and the six-match streak by Alyssa Koehl that was halted on Saturday. Fellow senior Isabella Waggoner also had a five-match streak earlier in the year.
All Around: Senior Laurene Robinson has been playing all six rotations at times this season, and has responded with 113 digs this season. Her total is already 50 more than any other year of her career. Robinson already has a season-best 191 kills and she's tied her first year in blocks with 40.
Aces Are Wild: Both the St. Mary's team and junior setter Haleigh Wilk are on pace to break the St. Mary's modern scoring format single-season aces per set record. The Rattlers are averaging 1.84 service aces per set, well above the record of 1.70 from last season's team, which recorded 182 aces in 107 sets. This year's team already has 123 aces with at least 10 matches to play. Wilk leads the team with 29 aces (0.46/set), which would break the modern scoring format record of 0.407/set by Victorria Martinez from 2012.Â
Best In Lone Star: Senior libero Alyssa Koehl continues to lead the Lone Star Conference in digs per set, averaging 5.31, 0.38 better than Alyssa Roja from Texas Woman's in second. Koehl has had nine matches this season with 20 or more digs, including a season-high 34 against Fairmont. Koehl also ranks fifth among active Division II players with her 1,815 digs, a number that also ranks 12th among every player in the NCAA, regardless of division. Her 4.81 digs per set over her career also ranks seventh among active Division II players.
Elite Company: In addition to recording a career-high 24 kills in the win over UT Dallas, Landri Withers collected the 1,000th kill of her career on point #23 of the first set. Withers is only the seventh player in St. Mary's history with 1,000 career kills, and is the first to accomplish the feat since Channing Hankins in 2018. Withers ranks 23rd among active Division 2 players with her 1,072 kills.
Block Party: Senior Dallasstar Johnson ranks fourth in the Lone Star Conference and 44th nationally with 1.12 blocks per set. Eight times this season she's recorded five or more blocks in a match, and she ranks sixth in St. Mary's history with 316 total blocks, needing eight more to move into fifth past Kirsten Chapman (2008-11) with 323. Johnson is also tied for 10th on the StMU career charts with 44 solo blocks and third with 272 block assists. Her 0.98 blocks per set for her career ranks 21st among active Division II players and 92nd among all three divisions in the NCAA.
Picked Sixth: St. Mary's was chosen to finish sixth in the extremely competitive Lone Star Conference in 2025. The Rattlers received 633 points to finish in the top 1/3 of the poll. Fresh off an appearance in the Final Four, Angelo State is predicted to win the league title. They collected 30 of the 54 first-place votes and 933 points. Defending regular season champions, West Texas A&M, was voted second with 919 points and 18 first-place nods. UT Tyler (3 first-place votes, 859 points), DBU (2, 803) and Texas Woman's (738) round out the top five.
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
Taylor Alston   Kills   200   19
Landry Cate   Kills   100   21
Kaylee Cavazos   Assists   100   6
   Digs   100   11
Dallasstar Johnson   Blocks   5th Place   8
   Aces   17th Place   2
Alyssa Koehl   Aces   11th Place   2
   Digs   2nd Place   79
Madi Milligan   Kills   100   19
Abbey Stiffler   Digs   200   18
Kelly Swyers   Kills   200   29
Isabella Waggoner   Digs   500   29
Haleigh Wilk   Assists   500   42
Landri Withers   Kills   1,100   28
   Aces   17th Place   5
