Volleyball Hits the Road for Four Straight

This Week in Rattlers Volleyball
Friday, Oct. 31 • St. Mary's (10-11, 7-4) at Cameron (7-17, 3-8) • 6 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 1 • St. Mary's at Oklahoma Christian (15-7, 7-4) • 2 p.m.
 

Long Road Trip: The St. Mary's Volleyball team begins a four-match road trip on Friday at Cameron. The Rattlers have four of their final six matches of the regular season on the road. The team is coming off a 3-1 homestand.

A Look Back: The Rattlers swept UT Tyler on Tuesday night, the team's first-ever three-set win over the Patriots, and the first meeting in four tries that didn't go the distance. Sophomore Taylor Alston led with 16 kills, while Landri Withers posted her 10th double-double of the year with 10 kills and 11 digs.

History With Cameron: The Rattlers hold a 14-3 edge in the all-time series with the Aggies that started back in 1980. St. Mary's is 8-2 in Lawton, has won the last five meetings between the two teams, and is 5-1 since joining the Lone Star Conference against CU.

History With Oklahoma Christian: St. Mary's is 5-1 all-time against Oklahoma Christian, though they dropped a four-set match the last time the teams played in Edmond in 2023. The Rattlers won both meetings a season ago in straight sets.

Guaranteed: With only one match remaining in October, the Rattlers are guaranteed to end with a winning record, as the team is 5-3, and has won the last three matches. It's the first winning October for the Gold & Blue since 2022 when the team was 7-3 in October and finished 14-14.

Olly, Alston, Taylor Free: Sophomore Taylor Alston tied her career high with 16 kills in the sweep over UT Tyler on Tuesday night. It is the most kills in a three-set match by a Rattler since Landri Withers posted 16 in the win over Cameron on Oct. 5, 2025, and it ties for the fifth-most in a three-set match in the school's modern-era scoring format (2008-present).

Moving On Up: Senior Alyssa Koehl recorded her 1,900th career dig with her final one in the third set against UT Tyler on Tuesday night. She moves into second in career history, passing Katie Migl, who had 1,893 from 2002-05. Koehl leads the Lone Star Conference and ranks 20th nationally with 5.25 digs per set this season, and she is one of only 12 active players in the NCAA (regardless of division) with at least 1,900 career digs.

Made to be Broken: On Saturday against St. Edward's, the Rattlers collected 18 aces, breaking the St. Mary's five-set record, bettering 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.

Dealing Out All the Aces: Junior setter Haleigh Wilk has served at least one ace in 18 of the 21 matches this season and already ranks fifth on the St. Mary's modern scoring format chart with 37 aces. Monica Ramon holds the modern record (2008-present) with 46 aces from 2017, while the overall record for aces in a season is 64 by Katie Griffin in 1997.

Now Appearing: Senior Dallasstar Johnson moved into fourth on the St. Mary's modern scoring format single season list with 83 block assists, passing Stephanie Proske, who recorded 82 in 2010. Next on the list is Johnson's mark of 87 block assists from her freshman campaign.

Climbing the Ladder: Senior Landri Withers passed Jennifer Johnson (1996-98) for sixth on the St. Mary's career kills chart on Saturday. Withers now has 1,121 kills, needing 13 to pass Channing Hankins (2015-18) for fifth. Withers is also now 20th all-time with 968 digs, needing 10 to pass Alissa Tolbert (2018-21) for 19th.

Taking the Lead: Not surprisingly after serving 18 aces on Saturday, the Rattlers now lead the Lone Star Conference in total aces (163) and aces per set (1.94). StMU ranks 68th in the nation in aces per set, as American International leads all of Division II with 2.75.

Cate-y Bar the Door: Senior middle blocker Landry Cate, who missed all of last season due to injury, has quietly posted multiple blocks in four straight matches and 11 times this season. Cate is second on the team, averaging 0.88 blocks per set, which ranks eighth in the Lone Star statistics. 

Keeping Watch: Senior Landri Withers surpassed the 900 dig milestone 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 1,121 kills and 968 digs to her name with six matches remaining in the regular season.

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 1.94 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 163 aces with at least six matches to play. Wilk leads the team with 37 aces (0.46/set), which would break the modern scoring format record of 0.407/set by Victorria Martinez from 2012.  She also leads the league with her 37 aces and ranks second in aces/set.

Best In Lone Star: Senior libero Alyssa Koehl continues to lead the Lone Star Conference in digs per set, averaging 5.25, which ranks 20th nationally. Koehl has had 11 matches this season with 20 or more digs, including a season-high 34 against Fairmont. 

Block Party: Senior Dallasstar Johnson ranks third in the Lone Star Conference and 34th nationally with 1.13 blocks per set. Twelve times this season she's recorded five or more blocks in a match, and she ranks fifth in St. Mary's history with 336 total blocks. Johnson is also tied for ninth on the StMU career charts with 46 solo blocks and tied for second with 290 block assists. Her 0.99 blocks per set for her career ranks 23rd among active Division II players.

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
Landry Cate    Kills    100    4
Dallasstar Johnson    Blocks    3rd Place    5
    Aces    15th Place    5
Alyssa Koehl    Aces    9th Place    1
    Assists    400    8
Laurene Robinson    Kills    600    29
    Digs    300    19
Abbey Stiffler    Digs    200    18
Kelly Swyers    Kills    200    23
Isabella Waggoner    Digs    500    3
Haleigh Wilk    Digs    200    17
Landri Withers    Aces    15th Place    5
    Digs    1000    32