SAN ANTONIO — Full of grit and determination, the St. Mary's University Volleyball team pulled off a thrilling five-set win on Pink Day at Bill Greehey Arena, defeating Texas Woman's 25-22, 25-19, 22-25, 17-25, 17-15.
The Rattlers (8-11, 5-4 Lone Star) won the first two sets, but the Pioneers (12-7, 5-3) buckled down to win the next two and set up the deciding fifth set. The teams tied eight times, with one lead change in the final stanza, before StMU was able to score the final two points on a
Taylor Alston (San Antonio) kill and a TWU hitting error for the 17-15 final.
Alston finished the match with 15 kills, one off her career-high of 16 from last season against Angelo State (Nov. 2), while senior outside hitter
Landri Withers (Stephenville, Texas) led the match with 17 kills and posted a career-best 21 digs. Senior
Laurene Robinson (Bedford, Texas) also added double digits in kills with 11.
Senior
Alyssa Koehl (New Braunfels, Texas) was oh, so close to recording her first double-double, leading the match with 32 digs and adding eight assists, one off her career-high of nine from 2023.
Junior setter
Haleigh Wilk (Salado, Texas) also got in on the career-high afternoon, punching up 15 digs to go along with 30 assists for her sixth double-double of the season.
Senior middle blockers
Landry Cate (Hot Springs, Ark.) and
Dallasstar Johnson (San Antonio) totaled six and five blocks, respectively, to lead the team and each notched seven kills as the Rattlers fought off the reverse sweep by the Pioneers.
The difference in the match came at the service line, as St. Mary's tallied nine aces, with Wilk and Withers each serving three, while TWU only had three. The Rattlers also out-blocked the Pioneers 11-to-9 in winning their second-straight against the team from Denton.
St. Mary's recorded 101 digs in the victory, the first time this season they've topped the century mark, though the Pioneers did win the dig battle with 114.
The Rattlers remain at home, hosting the annual Battle of the Saints on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Hilltoppers defeated DBU in four sets on Saturday afternoon.
