SAN ANTONIO — Making the most of the opportunities handed to you is a sign of maturity, and St. Mary's University junior setter
Abbey Stiffler definitely made the most of hers with a double-double in helping the Rattlers to a five-set victory over Midwestern State on Saturday afternoon, 22-25, 25-21, 17-25, 25-20, 15-13.
Stiffler stepped into the starting setter role in the second set, playing in only her third match of the season, and responded with the fourth double-double of her career with a team-best 22 assists and 10 digs.
Senior
Dallasstar Johnson (San Antonio) was extremely efficient at the net, posting only one hitting error in the five sets to lead the match with a .400 hitting percentage (11-1-25). It is the first time this season she's tallied double digits in kills, and she added a match-high six blocks. In the fifth set, Johnson was the only Rattler to have multiple kills, getting three on three swings to pull off the win over the Mustangs, who entered the day undefeated in Lone Star Conference play.
The Rattlers improved to 6-9 overall and 3-2 in LSC action, while the Mustangs dropped to 9-3 on the year and 3-1 in the conference race.
Landri Withers (Stephenville, Texas) continued to play well in her senior campaign, leading the match with 20 kills and notching her sixth double-double of the season with 15 digs. The Mustangs also served at her 25 times, and she did not have a reception error.
Senior
Laurene Robinson (Bedford, Texas) narrowly missed out on her third double-double, blasting 15 kills with nine digs, while senior libero
Alyssa Koehl (New Braunfels, Texas) tied for match-high honors with 24 digs, and she led the match with three service aces. Her first ace of the match gave her 100 for her career, becoming only the 14th player in St. Mary's history to have over 100. She passed Suzie Sammis (2000-03) for 13th with her final ace of the day and now has 102.
The Rattlers more than doubled the Mustangs in blocks, 11.5-5. The 11.5 is the second-highest total this season, trailing only the 16 against Cal State LA at the Hawai'i Challenge. It is also the first five-set victory of the year for the Rattlers. StMU lost its first three matches of the year in five sets.
St. Mary's travels south next weekend to face Texas A&M International on Friday at 6 p.m. and Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Dustdevils recorded their first LSC win of the year against Sul Ross State on Saturday, while the Javelinas lost their first conference match, losing in five at Western New Mexico.
