Volleyball Looks to Keep Things Rolling in Kingsville

This Week in Rattlers Volleyball
Thursday, Sept. 3 • Minnesota State Moorhead (3-2) vs St. Mary's (3-1) • 4 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 4 • Findlay (2-3) vs St. Mary's • 10:30 a.m.
Friday, Sept. 4 • Montana State Billings (1-3) vs St. Mary's • 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 5 • St. Mary's at Texas A&M-Kingsville (3-1) • 2:30 p.m.

Week Two: The St. Mary's Volleyball team remains in Texas for the second week of the season, heading to the Javelina Classic in Kingsville. The Rattlers face Minnesota State Moorhead on Thursday, Findlay and Montana State Billings on Friday and Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday.

A Look Back: The Rattlers went 3-1 at the Rollins Invitational during the first week, tying for the best record in the tournament, as Southern Connecticut State and Rollins also were 3-1. Both Laurene Robinson and Kaylee Cavazos were named to the All-Tournament team. Robinson amassed double figures in kills in all four matches, while Cavazos had double digit digs in each match. 

StMU vs the Field: Findlay is the only first-time opponent on tap for the Rattlers at the Javelina Invitational this week. The Rattlers are 1-0 all-time against Minnesota State Moorhead, though the two teams have not met since 1994, where StMU won the best-of-three match in two sets. St. Mary's and Montana State Billings were in the Heartland Conference together in 2005 and 2006, where the Yellowjackets won four of the five meetings. St. Mary's holds a slight 34-32 advantage in the all-time series with Texas A&M-Kingsville, though the Javelinas have won seven straight in Kingsville.

Connections: Head Coach Kristine Pelky is very familiar with Minnesota State Moorhead, after playing and coaching in the Northern Sun against the Dragons. Last year, Pelky's Winona State team swept MSUM in Winona... Texas A&M-Kingsville has four players local to the San Antonio area on the roster, while the Rattlers have seven, however none of the 11 were high school teammates... TAMUK freshman Cambelle Brammer graduated from the same high school as StMU SID Heather Kennedy in Fruita, Colo. 

Tough Defense: St. Mary's held all four opponents last week below a .200 hitting percentage and currently ranks sixth in the Lone Star Conference with a .148 opponent hitting percentage. The Rattlers' defense contained Ursuline to a .075 hitting percentage, collecting 7.5 blocks in the four-set match.

Here's to You Ms. Robinson: Graduate student Laurene Robinson had a terrific first week to her fifth season at St. Mary's. The pin hitter started Friday by tying her career-high with 18 kills in the five-set loss to Southern Connecticut State and then exploded for a career-best 24 kills in the four-set win over Ursuline. On Saturday against Concord, she hit .552 (17-1-29) in the sweep over Concord and added 12 kills in the win at Rollins. For her efforts, Robinson was named to the All-Tournament team. She currently ranks second in the LSC and 20th in all of Division II with 4.18 kills per set.

Being Efficient: The Rattlers hit .417 in the sweep against Concord, making only three unforced errors in the entire match. The .417 hitting percentage is the fifth-best in a single match in school history, and it's only the fourth time in the 25-point rally scoring era (2008-present) that the team has hit over .400 for a match.

Ace in the Hole: In the four-set win over Ursuline on Friday, the six St. Mary's servers combined for 18 aces, tying the school's four-set record for service aces from Oct. 24, 2009 at Oklahoma Panhandle State. All six servers had at least two aces in the match, while junior Taylor Alston and senior Haleigh Wilk each had four to lead the team.  The Rattlers rank third in the Lone Star with 2.29 aces per set.

First of Many: Junior Taylor Alston recorded the first double-double of her career with 13 kills and 11 digs against Rollins. She is the fifth player on the team to record a double-double in her career, joining Laurene Robinson (5), Liz Salinas (1), Abbey Stiffler (4), and Haleigh Wilk (11). Salinas, Stiffler and Wilk all have double-doubles in assists and digs, while Robinson's are in kills and digs.

Now Appearing: Laurene Robinson ranks 73rd in Division II and 196th among all NCAA Volleyball players in career kills with 729, while she ranks 64th in DII with 0.50 blocks per set and 119th with 149 total blocks.

Calling Her Number: Senior setter Haleigh Wilk, running a 5-1 offense for the first time in her StMU career, has had the ability to call her own number on offense during the first week, collecting 12 kills. The 12 kills are double her freshman and sophomore season combined, and are halfway to last year's total of 25.  She posted a career-best five kills in the five-set win at Rollins on Saturday.

Introducing the Staff: Kristine Pelky and Alec Straw begin their first year as the coaching duo for the Rattlers. Pelky was the interim head coach at Winona State a season ago, posting a record of 16-12. Straw joins the Rattlers from Abilene Christian, where he was a graduate assistant for 2025. Graduate Assistant coach Elle Truckenbrod returns for her second season after helping the Rattlers finish 12-5 in the Lone Star Conference, the most league victories in the school's Division II history.

Picked Fifth: The Rattlers were picked to finish fifth in the 18-team Lone Star Conference. StMU received 698 points and one first-place vote, while Angelo State is the overwhelming choice to repeat as champions, garnering 951 points and 41 of the 54 first-place votes. West Texas A&M (7 first-place votes, 883 points), Lubbock Christian (3, 837) and UT Tyler (778) round out the top five. The Patriots and Rattlers have met each of the last two years in the quarterfinals of the LSC Tournament.

Keep An Eye On: Graduate student outside hitter Laurene Robinson, senior setter Haleigh Wilk and junior libero Kaylee Cavazos were honored on the Lone Star Conference Preseason Players to Watch list. Robinson is a returning LSC All-Conference selection, earning Second Team honors in 2025, while Wilk and Cavazos are both first-time honorees.

Serving It Up: In each of the last two seasons, the Rattlers have broken the school modern scoring format record (2008-present) for service aces in a season. The 2024 team amassed 182, while last year's team ended with 200, which ranks eighth all-time. Senior setter Haleigh Wilk was a big reason for the record, as she led the Lone Star Conference with 46 aces. Wilk's 46 aces tie for 10th in school history and ties the modern scoring format record by Monica Ramon from 2017.

Another Record Falls: St. Mary's shattered the modern scoring format for block assists in a season with 403 during 2025, topping the 2010 team which totaled 349. The 403 block assists also ranks fourth overall.