SAN ANTONIO — The St. Mary's University Volleyball team split a pair of matches on the first day of the Rattler Invitational, sweeping Lone Star Conference foe Texas A&M International 25-18, 25-19, 25-16 before falling to undefeated Florida Southern in four sets in the nightcap, 21-25, 28-26, 21-25, 19-25.
Senior
Laurene Robinson (Bedford, Texas) continued the hot start to her final year, averaging 3.00 kills per set over the two matches, hitting .385 (21-1-52), while fellow senior
Dallasstar Johnson (San Antonio) averaged 2.14 kills per set and hit .282 (15-4-39) in the seven sets. The Rattlers had a balanced attack with five hitters averaging over 1.5 kills per set, while five defenders averaged over 1.5 digs per set, and seven garnered at least 0.50 blocks per set.
In the other matches during day one, No. 4 Central Oklahoma swept both Fairmont State and Texas A&M International, and Florida Southern won a five-set thriller against Fairmont State.
The Bronchos and Rattlers open up day two of the tournament at 10:30 a.m., while the Dustdevils and Falcons are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. The battle of the unbeatens takes place at 3:30 with the Mocs meeting the Bronchos, and Fairmont State and StMU round out the 2025 Rattler Invitational at 6 p.m.
ST. MARY'S 3, TEXAS A&M INTERNATIONAL 0
Junior setter
Haleigh Wilk (Salado, Texas) recorded her second double-double of the season as she helped lift the Rattlers to their second straight sweep, 25-18, 25-19, 25-16. Wilk had 14 assists and 10 digs. All 10 players collected at least one dig, including a match-high 17 by senior libero
Alyssa Koehl (New Braunfels, Texas). She also added a season-high seven assists.
Robinson and senior
Landri Withers (Stephenville, Texas) tied for match-high honors in the kill column with nine each, while Johnson and Wilk each had a pair of service aces as the Rattlers tallied twice as many aces (8) as errors (4). Johnson also added another six blocks to her season total, leading all players.
StMU controlled the pace of play almost from the opening serve and trailed only twice in the entire match. The team hit .286 for the match, making only five unforced errors during the afternoon. Trailing 18-16 in the second set, the Rattlers closed the set on an 8-1 run, including seven straight served by Koehl.
FLORIDA SOUTHERN 3, ST. MARY'S 1
In a back-and-forth match that featured 26 ties and 13 lead changes, the Rattlers couldn't quite get over the hump in a four-set loss to the Mocs, 21-25, 28-26, 21-25, 19-25.
Withers posted her first double-double of the 2025 campaign, and the 30th of her career, with 10 kills and 17 digs, and she added a match-high tying three aces, while sophomore setter
Kaylee Cavazos (San Antonio) narrowly missed recording the first double-double of her career with 11 assists and eight digs.
Robinson led the team with 12 digs, while Johnson posted nine kills, a match-high seven blocks and five digs. Koehle once again led the club with 23 digs.
Olivia Rubio (San Antonio) played in the final two sets, seeing action on the right side for the first time in her career. She had a kill and a block in her first match of the season.
The nightcap was the first time in 2025 that StMU lost the first set of the match, as they had won set one in each of the first five matches.
NEWS & NOTES
- Senior Dallasstar Johnson recorded the 500th kill of her career against Florida Southern. She now 502. Her 13 blocks on the day jump her from 11th on the StMU career charts to 8th, and she needs three more to bump Stephanie Crowell (275, 2006-09) out of seventh place.
- Senior Alyssa Koehl recorded 40 digs in the seven sets, and is five shy of moving into fourth place on the StMU career charts. She also needs two service aces to move into 16th place on that list.
- Senior Laurene Robinson posted kill No. 400 for her career in the opening match against the Dustdevils and stands at 413.
- Senior Landri Withers smashed kill number 900 in the final set against Florida Southern and needs 99 for the amazing achievement of 1,000.
