HONOLULU, Hawai'i — The St. Mary's University Volleyball team came up on the short end of the scoreboard in the first match of the Hawai'i Challenge on the Hawai'i Pacific campus, falling in five sets to UCCS 28-26, 22-25, 25-23, 18-25, 11-15 on Thursday evening.
Seniors
Laurene Robinson (Bedford, Texas) and
Landri Withers (Stephenville, Texas) led the Rattlers in kills with 16 and 11, respectively, while senior libero
Alyssa Koehl (New Braunfels, Texas) led all players with 28 digs. Senior
Dallasstar Johnson (San Antonio) had a match-high four blocks, and she added eight kills.
The two Rattlers setters,
Haleigh Wilk (Salado, Texas) and
Kaylee Cavazos (San Antonio), accounted for six of the seven service aces on the night, with Wilk recording a career-high four to lead all players. They both also had career-highs in assists with 23 and 21, respectively.
Junior transfer
McKenna Ferris (Spring, Texas) played only the final three sets but hit .500 for the night with five kills on 10 swings and no errors. Junior
Madi Milligan (San Antonio) also went the entire night without a hitting error, collecting five kills on 12 attacks (.417) and she added three blocks.
The five Mountain Lion hitters were all in double figures in kills, and Maylen Mitrovich posted a triple-double with 11 kills, 30 assists and 11 digs.
Set 1
It took extra points, but the Rattlers erased a six-point deficit (19-13) to win 28-26 behind the strong blocking of Johnson and Withers, several ace serves by Wilk, and the standout defense of Koehl, who recorded nine digs in the set, several of which were made by diving on the floor to save a point.
Set 2
The Rattlers once again found themselves in a 19-13 hole, but the Mountain Lions maintained the lead for the 25-22 win. StMU closed within two, 23-21 on another Wilk ace, but UCCS scored two of the final three points after calling a timeout to even the score at 1-1. St. Mary's had only unforced hitting errors in the set, hitting .310 (11-2-29).
Set 3
The Rattlers led the majority of the third set, holding their biggest lead at 15-11 on a
Tara Creekmore (Canton, Mich.) kill. The Mountain Lions fought back to tie the score at 22-22, but a pair of Creekmore kills and an ace serve by Cavazos gave StMU the 2-1 advantage. Robinson and Creekmore each had five kills in the set, as 17 of the team's 25 points came off kills.
Set 4
The Mountain Lions led throughout the fourth set, and held the Rattlers to only seven kills, while hitting their highest percentage of the night at .423 (14-3-26). Robinson notched four of the team's seven kills, while freshman
Chandley Tolbert (Weimar, Texas) saw her first action, getting a kill right after subbing in.
Set 5
The teams went back-and-forth in the deciding set, tying at 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9 and 10 before UCCS scored five of the final six points for the 15-11 win. Teams usually switch sides in the fifth set after the first team reaches eight points; however, the referees didn't whistle for the switch. At 8-8, the error was noticed, and the teams' changed sides of the court. A long delay ensued as the officials tried to decide whether the score should reset to 8-6 when the original switch should have occurred or remain at 8-8. The clubs entertained the crowd with a dance party during the decision-making process, and it remained tied at 8-8. Ferris posted two kills and paired with Milligan on a block before the delay.
The Rattlers will play the final three matches of the Hawai'i Challenge at Chaminade, beginning with Cal State LA on Friday at 9 p.m. (CT). The Golden Eagles face Hawai'i Pacific on Thursday before squaring off with the Rattlers in the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
