SAN ANTONIO — The St. Mary's University Volleyball team served its way into a win on Saturday afternoon in the Battle of the Saints, breaking the five-set single-match record with 18 aces. The Rattlers also missed only five of their 100 attempts in the five sets, winning 25-20, 17-25, 18-25, 25-9, 15-10.
The 18 aces betters the previous record of 14 from both the 2006 (at Texas A&M Kingsville, Sept. 6) and 2007 (DBU, Nov. 2) teams, and ties for second all-time regardless of the number of sets played. On Sept. 24, 2004, the Rattlers served 22 aces in a win against Oklahoma Panhandle State, while they had 18 in a four-set win at Oklahoma Panhandle State on Oct. 24, 2009.
The last four victories for St. Mary's have been in five sets, as the Cardiac Kids come out swinging with their backs against the wall. The win moves the team to 6-4 in Lone Star Conference play and into a tie for sixth-place in the standings with Oklahoma Christian, and they are 9-11 overall. The Hilltoppers move to 6-9 on the year and 3-7 in league action.
Senior libero
Alyssa Koehl (New Braunfels, Texas) recorded a career-high five aces to lead the match. Four other times throughout her career, she's totaled four aces in a match. She also had a 12-point run at the service line in the fourth set with two aces, and twice the reception came right back over the net, allowing
Laurene Robinson (Bedford, Texas) and
Dallasstar Johnson (San Antonio) each to smash the ball to the floor on overpasses. Koehl also led the match with 25 digs, including six of the team's 10 in the final stanza.
Johnson also served four aces, a season-high, and one off her career-high of five from her freshman season. She also added eight kills, six digs and a match-high tying five blocks, sharing the honor with fellow middle blocker
Landry Cate (Hot Springs, Ark.).
Robinson led the Rattlers with 12 kills, hitting .375 with no hitting errors, and adding four blocks on the day. Sophomore
Kelly Swyers (Austin, Texas) provided a huge spark off the bench, coming in during the fourth set and ending the match with six kills on nine swings and no errors for a .667 hitting percentage.
Junior setter
Haleigh Wilk (Salado, Texas) posted her seventh double-double of the year with a team-high 21 assists and 12 digs, and senior
Landri Withers (Stephenville, Texas) narrowly missed one with nine kills and 13 digs.
St. Mary's hit .250 (45-10-140) for the match, the highest hitting percentage since the four-set win over UT Dallas on Sept. 30, turning up the offensive pressure by hitting over .340 in each of the final two sets.
The Rattlers close out the four-match home stretch against UT Tyler on Tuesday at 6 p.m. before traveling to play the pair of Oklahoma schools over the weekend.
NEWS & NOTES
- The five aces by Alyssa Koehl is not only a career-high for the senior, but also moves her into 10th in school history with 111, passing Kristelle Rodriguez (1999-02). She is now two shy of tying current head coach Cali Nims (2021-24), who served 113 in her standout career.
- Landri Withers moves up one spot into sixth on the StMU career kills chart with 1111, passing Jennifer Johnson (1996-98), who had 1109.
- Withers also moves into 16th place on the career aces list with her three on the day. Withers has 92 for her career, passing Samantha Weber (91, 2006-07) and Bree Perry (89, 2016-19).
- Dallasstar Johnson also moved up on the career aces list with her four in the match. She is currently tied with Withers for 16th after entering the day tied with Erika Bolk (88, 1998-02) in 19th.
- Freshman setter Liz Salinas (Helotes, Texas) recorded the 200th assist of her career and now has 210.
