Volleyball Begins LSC Play on the Road

This Week in Rattlers Volleyball
Lone Star Conference Opener
Friday, Sept. 26 • at #20 Angelo State (6-5) • 6 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 27 • at UT Permian Basin (2-8) • 1 p.m.
 

Conference Kickoff: The St. Mary's Volleyball team starts Lone Star Conference play on the road, playing at #20 Angelo State on Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. at UT Permian Basin. The Rambelles are 6-5 on the year, while the Falcons are 2-8.

Lone Star Openers: St. Mary's is 2-4 in Lone Star Conference openers, and defeated Texas A&M-Kingsville in straight sets a season ago. This will be the first time that the Rattlers and Rambelles have met in the first match of league play, as StMU is 0-2 vs DBU and Texas Woman's, 1-0 vs Texas A&M International and 1-0 vs Texas A&M-Kingsville.

History With ASU: Angelo State holds a 27-16 lead in the all-time series that started in 1978, the Rambelles have won three straight in the series, and they are 5-1 since St. Mary's joined the Lone Star Conference. The lone win for the Rattlers was in 2022 in San Antonio. The Rambelles hold a 10-3 advantage in matches played in San Angelo.

History With UTPB: St. Mary's trails by one, 15-14 in the all-time series with UT Permian Basin, and is looking to snap a three-match losing streak to the Falcons. UTPB is 6-2 against the Rattlers since StMU joined the Lone Star Conference in 2019.  UTPB also holds a one-match edge, 9-8 in matches played in Odessa, and this is the fourth-straight time the teams have played on the UTPB campus.

Nims In Charge: Cali Nims, who was a setter on the Rattlers' team from 2021-24, will spend the remainder of the 2025 season as the interim head coach after the resignation of Dave Ulrich on Sept. 24. Nims was a two-time Lone Star All-Conference selection and ranks fifth in St. Mary's history with 2,695 assists.

A Look Back: St. Mary's split matches at the LSC Preview in Denton, defeating Texas Woman's in four sets before being swept by DBU on Friday. Senior outside hitter Landri Withers led the team in kills each night, collecting 19 kills and 19 digs with a .447 hitting percentage against the host, Pioneers, before adding 14 kills, nine digs and three aces against the Patriots. The Rattlers served up a season-high 11 aces in the win over TWU, keeping the Pioneers disrupted and out of system much of the evening.

Taking the Top Spot: Senior libero Alyssa Koehl claimed the top spot in the Lone Star Conference statistics this week in digs per set with her average of 5.23. Koehl began last week in second place, trailing TWU's Alyssa Rojo by 0.01 digs/set, but in the meeting between the teams, Koehl collected 24 digs, compared to Rojo's 17. 

Milestone Approaching: Outside hitter Landri Withers continues to put up strong numbers her senior season, and is now 38 kills shy of becoming only the seventh player in St. Mary's history to record 1,000 kills. Withers moved up one more spot on the StMU career chart into seventh with 962 kills, passing Alissa Tolbert's 939 (2018-21).

Block Party: Senior Dallasstar Johnson ranks third in the Lone Star Conference and 56th nationally with 1.11 blocks per set. Five times this season she's recorded five or more blocks in a match, and she ranks seventh in St. Mary's history with 284 total blocks, needing eight more to move into sixth past Misti Fischnar (2000-03) with 291. Johnson also ranks 13th on the StMU career charts with 40 solo blocks and sixth with 244 block assists. Her 0.966 blocks per set for her career is seventh in school history and 16th among active Division II players and 80th among all three divisions in the NCAA.

Aces Are Wild: A trio of Rattler seniors have recorded 75 or more service aces in their career. Alyssa Koehl leads the way with 94 in her career to rank 15th on the StMU career charts, while Landri Withers hopped into the top 20 last week with 81, and Dallasstar Johnson is close to cracking the top 20 with 75 aces. The trio of seniors from 2002 in Kristelle Rodriguez (110), Breann Alexander (102) and Erika Bolk (88) recorded 300 aces between them, while this season's trio is 50 behind them with 250 and at least 17 matches remaining on the 2025 schedule.

Digging It: Senior libero Alyssa Koehl is closing in on third in StMU history with 1,663 digs, needing only 15 to overtake Valerie Teter (2005-08) for third. Koehl also ranks fifth in NCAA Division II among active players with her 1,663 digs, and 16th regardless of division.

Picked Sixth: 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.

Double Digit Kills: Senior Landri Withers has recorded 10 or more kills 49 times in her career, moving her into sixth all-time at St. Mary's, passing Hall of Fame inductee Samantha Weber who had 48 in her two years with the Rattlers. Breann Alexander (2000-02) holds the all-time record, getting to double digits 84 times in her career. Withers is also 7th in StMU history with 31 double-doubles.

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
Taylor Alston    Kills    200    35
Kaylee Cavazos    Assists    100    10
Dallasstar Johnson    Blocks    300    16
    Blocks    6th Place    8
    Aces    19th Place    4
Alyssa Koehl    Aces    100    6
    Aces    14th Place    3
    Digs    3rd Place    15
Madi Milligan    Kills    100    19
Laurene Robinson    Kills    500    37
    Blocks    100    8
Abbey Stiffler    Assists    400    5
Landri Withers    Kills    1,000    38

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.