HONOLULU, Hawai'i — For the second-straight night, the St. Mary's University Volleyball team came up short in a five-set match, falling to Cal State LA 25-21, 25-19, 17-25, 20-25, 9-15, despite collecting 16 total blocks on the night.
Junior
Madi Milligan (San Antonio) blocked a career-high nine, tying for the seventh most in a five-set match in school history and the third-most in the rally scoring era (2008-present), while senior
Dallasstar Johnson (San Antonio) and
McKenna Ferris (Spring, Texas) each had seven.
The 32 block assists by StMU are the most-ever in a five-set rally-scoring match, and are the second-most ever in a five-setter, while the 16 total blocks are tied for fourth overall and a new rally-scoring five-set record for the Gold and Blue.
The big block up front didn't allow senior libero
Alyssa Koehl (New Braunfels, Texas) many opportunities to touch the ball, and she recorded only five digs on the night, snapping an amazing 43-match streak with double-figure digs. The last time she didn't hit double digits was Sept. 22, 2023 against Texas Woman's.
Pin hitters
Laurene Robinson (Bedford, Texas) and
Taylor Alston (San Antonio) tied for team-high honors with 11 kills each, and senior
Landri Withers (Stephenville, Texas) led the team with 10 digs.
Both Withers and junior setter
Haleigh Wilk (Salado, Texas) tied for match-high honors with three aces. The two clubs combined for 23 aces, 10 by the Rattlers (0-2) and 13 by the Golden Eagles (2-1).
Set 1
As in the season opener on Thursday, the Rattlers had to dig themselves out of a hole early in the first set on Friday. The team trailed 5-1 but scored five of the next six points to knot the score at 6-6. The score was tied at 10, 11, 14, and 15 before StMU scored three straight, including back-to-back blocks as Johnson teamed once with Alston and once with Ferris. Johnson ended the set with four blocks, while Robinson led the team with four kills. StMU had only one unforced hitting error in the set, hitting at a .348 clip (9-1-23).
Set 2
There were six ties through the early part of the set until Cal State LA rattled off four straight to take a 12-8 lead. StMU battled back to tie the score at 16-16, and closed the set on a 9-3 run for the 25-19 win. The Rattlers scored 11 points off kills, two on aces and added another four blocks to the total to take a 2-0 advantage in the match.
Set 3
The Rattlers spotted the Golden Eagles the first five points of the third set, and they went on to win by eight, 25-17. StMU closed within one at 5-4 but were never able to take the lead. Alston had three of the team's five kills in the set, while Milligan collected three blocks, two with Robinson and one with Alston.
Set 4
Cal State LA led wire-to-wire in the fourth set, though the Rattlers made a late push, scoring five of the last seven, including a pair of ace serves by Wilk for the 25-20 final tally. All six hitters recorded at least one kill, and StMU put up another four blocks.
Set 5
St. Mary's took a 7-4 lead on back-to-back ace serves by senior
Isabella Waggoner (Texas City, Texas), however, Cal State LA was able to score 11 of the final 13 points to win the match 15-9.
St. Mary's faces a pair of Hawai'ian teams on Saturday, squaring off with Hawai'i-Hilo at 3 p.m. (CT) and host, Chaminade at 11 p.m. (CT).
