Volleyball Hosts Rattler Invitational This Weekend

This Week in Rattlers Volleyball
Rattler Invitational • Bill Greehey Arena
Friday, Sept. 12 • Texas A&M International (2-2) • 12 p.m. • Florida Southern (3-0) • 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 13 • #4 Central Oklahoma (4-0) • 10:30 a.m. • Fairmont State (4-0) • 6 p.m.

Time to Host: The St. Mary's Volleyball team will host the Rattler Invitational for the second-straight season, welcoming No. 4 Central Oklahoma, Fairmont State, Florida Southern and Texas A&M Invitational to Bill Greehey Arena for the nine-match tournament on Friday and Saturday. All day passes are available for $15 for adults (13-and-older).

Facing the Field: St. Mary's is 6-7 all-time against Central Oklahoma, 0-1 against Florida Southern and 22-16 against Texas A&M International. The Rattlers have never faced Fairmont State. StMU last played UCO in 2022, a four-set win for the Bronchos. Florida Southern won the lone meeting in four sets in 2009 at the St. Mary's/Texas MedClinic Invitational - a tournament UCO was also in.  The Rattlers won both meetings with the Dustdevils a season ago, and this is the fourth-straight meeting between the teams in San Antonio.

All-Tournament: Senior Alyssa Koehl was named the best libero of the Hawai'i Challenge, while senior right-side hitter Laurene Robinson was also voted to the All-Tournament team. Koehl averaged 4.17 digs per set, topping the 20-dig plateau twice, while Robinson hit .354 with a team-best 2.83 kills per set.

Marianist Battle: In the final match of the Hawai'i Challenge between the Rattlers and No. 9 Chaminade, two of the three Marianist institutions in the United States, St. Mary's swept the SilverSwords 25-19, 25-19, 25-17. It is the highest ranked team the Rattlers have ever defeated in volleyball.

Settling In: Kaylee Cavazos played in only 14 of the team's 107 sets a season ago, but has made quite an impact in 2025. The sophomore has played in all 18 sets this year, and has increased her digs in every match. She had one in the opener against UCCS, notched five against Cal State LA, six against Hawai'i-Hilo and was second on the team with seven in the win over Chaminade. Cavazos is averaging 3.22 assists and 1.06 digs per set in 2025.

Leaps and Bounds: Senior Landri Withers jumped all the way from 14th to 10th on the StMU career kills chart last week. The outside hitter now has 882 kills, needing 27 to pass Samantha Weber (2006-07) for ninth all-time. Withers is 108 kills from becoming the seventh player in St. Mary's history with 1,000 kills, and the first since Channing Hankins did so in 2018. Withers is averaging 1.83 kills per set this season, to go along with 1.89 digs.

Aces Are High: Junior setter Haleigh Wilk currently ranks fourth in the nation with 13 service aces. Wilk had at least three aces in each of the first four matches this season, and has already passed her total from her first two years on the team. She ranks third in the Lone Star in aces per set with 0.72, which ranks 66th nationally. 

Digging It: Senior libero Alyssa Koehl moved up one place into fifth in StMU history with 1,534 digs, passing Pam Salinas (2000-03), who recorded 1,487 in her career. Koehl is 45 shy of taking over fourth on the list, currently held by Leslie Arnold (1997-00). Koehl also ranks fifth in NCAA Division II among active players with her 1,534 digs, and 17th regardless of division. Only nine digs separate Koehl and Chowan senior Diana Rodriguez. Alyssa Groves from Post is the NCAA Division II career active leader with 1,964 digs and Koehl is the only player from the Lone Star Conference on the list.

Block Party: Middle blocker Dallasstar Johnson also ranks among the best in NCAA Division II, ranking 12th with 0.95 blocks per set over her career. The senior also ranks 61st regardless of division, and her 260 total blocks ranks 22nd among active Division II players and 120th among all three divisions. This season, Johnson is averaging 1.06 blocks per set.

Picked Sixth: With 14 returning players from last season, St. Mary's has been 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.

Late Coaching Shakeup: On August 6, Laura Ulrich announced she had accepted the head coaching position at Illinois-Springfield. Dave Ulrich, her husband and assistant coach, will serve as the Rattlers interim head coach for 2025, while recently graduated Cali Nims will be the assistant coach and the team welcomes Elle Truckenbrod, a 2025 graduate of Wisconsin-Parkside as the graduate assistant. 

Double Digit Kills: Senior Landri Withers has recorded 10 or more kills 44 times in her career, ranking 8th all-time at St. Mary's. She moves past previous teammate Alicia Virthe, who posted 43 in her standout career. Breann Alexander (2000-02) holds the all-time record, getting to double digits 84 times in her career. Withers also is tied for 7th in StMU history with 29 double-doubles, and is tied with Anna Seals (2003-05).

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
Dallasstar Johnson    Kills    500    13
    Digs    200    16
    Blocks    10th place    4
Alyssa Koehl    Digs    4th place    45
    Aces    16th place    5
Laurene Robinson    Kills    400    8
    Blocks    100    19
Abbey Stiffler    Assists    400    5
Isabella Waggoner    Digs    400    28
Landri Withers    Kills    9th place    27
    Kills    1,000    108

Welcome: In addition to the 14 returners from the 2024 roster, the Rattlers welcome six new student-athletes with three freshmen (Tara Creekmore, Liz Salinas, Chandley Tolbert) and three transfers (Addison Carrillo, McKenna Ferris, Natalia Rodriguez).

Hall of Fame: Samantha (Weber) Vaio was elected into the St. Mary's Hall of Fame, and will be inducted on November 7. Vaio is the only All-American in the NCAA era for the Rattlers, earning honorable mention honors in 2006. She was a two-time Heartland All-Conference First-Team selection, ranking in the top 100 in the NCAA both seasons in hitting percentage and kills per set. She also led the Heartland Conference in 2007 in aces per set, averaging 0.47, and hitting percentage at .313.