Volleyball Hits the Road in LSC Action

This Week in Rattlers Volleyball
Friday, Sept. 25 • St. Mary's (8-4, 1-1) at Lubbock Christian (5-7, 1-1) • 6 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 26 • St. Mary's at Midwestern State (6-6, 2-0) • 3 p.m.
 

First Road Trip: The St. Mary's Volleyball team takes its first road trip in Lone Star Conference play, heading to Lubbock Christian on Friday and Midwestern State on Saturday. Both teams sport identical 1-1 records in LSC action as there are eight teams who split the first week.

Double Time: Laurene Robinson became the first-ever Rattler to earn back-to-back Lone Star Conference Player of the Week honors when she was named the Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday. Robinson hit .414 with 41 kills for the week. She smashed 26 kills and hit .489 in pushing Angelo State to a fifth set. She added 17 digs, seven blocks, five assists and two service aces over the two matches. Robinson has had double-digit kills in all 12 matches this season and has gone over 20 five different times. She is the second player in school history to be named LSC Player of the Week twice, joining Cali Nims, who was Setter of the Week twice in 2024.

History with Lubbock Christian: St. Mary's holds the slight 13-12 lead in the all-time series with the Lady Chaps and a 4-3 edge since the teams joined the Lone Star Conference. LCU holds a 4-3 lead in matches played in Lubbock, though this is the first time since 2022 the Rattlers have played in the Rip Griffin Center.

History with Midwestern State: The Rattlers also led the series with the Mustangs by one, leading 12-11 in a series that dates back to 1980. Since joining the Lone Star, StMU is 4-1 against Midwestern State, though the team was swept in Wichita Falls in 2024. Last year the team won 15-13 in the fifth set for to take the lead in the all-time series.

Racking Up the Numbers: Junior Kaylee Cavazos has quietly put up some fantastic numbers in her first season as libero. On Friday, she served a career-high five aces against Angelo State and answered on Saturday with 25 digs and eight assists, narrowly missing her second double-double. The 25 digs is one off her career-high of 26 from the previous week against Texas Woman's. On Sept. 3, Cavazos became the first libero in St. Mary's history to record a double-double in assists and digs with 11 and 17, respectively against MSU Moorhead.

Double Your Pleasure: Both Laurene Robinson and Haleigh Wilk now rank in the top-25 in school history in Division II double-doubles. Robinson is tied for 25th with nine career double-doubles, while Wilk is tied for 17th with 16. Breann Alexander (2000-02) and Kristelle Rodriguez (2000-02) both had 60 matches with double figures in two different categories while playing in NCAA Division II for the record.

Four of a Kind: On Saturday, the Rattlers posted 10 service aces against UT Permian Basin, the fourth time this year the team has hit double figures in aces. St. Mary's leads the Lone Star and ranks 20th in the nation with 107 total aces, and are on pace to shatter the school record for aces per set. This year's team is averaging 2.02 per set, while the school record is 1.90 from 2007. 

Swinging Smart: St. Mary's currently ranks third in the Lone Star Conference and 46th in Division II in hitting percentage at .240. That would break the St. Mary's single-season DII record of .235 (2124-764-5799) by the 2000 team. The 2024 team set the 25-point rally era (2008) record for hitting percentage at .230 (1440-507-4054). The Rattlers trail only No. 6 Angelo State (.250) and #RV UT Tyler (.246) in the LSC stats. Laurene Robinson ranks second in the league and 59th nationally with her .359 hitting percentage (226-42-513). Her numbers are on pace to break the StMU rally-scoring era record of .323 (274-77-610) by Stephanie Proske from 2011. 

Running Rattlers: St. Mary's has recorded 21 runs of five-plus unanswered points this season, including a run of six-straight in the second set against Angelo State on Friday night. The longest run of the season was seven-straight points in the opening set against MSU Moorhead on Sept. 3 with Kaylee Cavazos at the service line.

Elite Company: Grace Dilena (Mercy) and Laurene Robinson are the only two players in NCAA Division II who rank in the top 60 in both kills per set and hitting percentage. Dilena ranks 11th in hitting percentage (.431) and 16th in kills per set (4.06), while Robinson is 11th in kills per set (4.26) and 59th in hitting percentage (.359).

Putting Up the Points: In the second set against No. 6 Angelo State on Friday, the Rattlers tied the school record for most points in a set in the 25-point rally era, winning 33-31. They tie the record from Oct. 6, 2018 where the Rattlers also won 33-31 (at UAFS). St. Mary's is 2-2 in sets this season that go extra points.

League Leaders: Laurene Robinson leads the Lone Star Conference in kills per set with 4.26 (11th), points per set with 4.82 (9th) and total kills with 226 (2nd), and is second in hitting percentage at .359 (59th) and her national rank in all is in parentheses.  Haleigh Wilk ranks second in assists with 9.02 (52nd).

This Girl Is On Fire: Freshman Madyson Carr continues to get more comfortable in the offense. She has recorded at least five kills in 10 of the 12 matches and has recorded five or more blocks five times. She totaled seven kills in each match last week. Her 0.83 blocks per set is the fourth-best total by a freshman in StMU modern history. 

Setting the Table: Senior setter Haleigh Wilk topped the 1,000 set milestone at Texas A&M-Kingsville on Sept. 5 and now has 1,212 assists (5.48/set), moving her into the top 10 on the St. Mary's career charts. Wilk is 61 assists shy of taking over ninth place, as Ashley Bird tallied 1,272 assists in 2002-05.

Finding Her Place: Since moving into the starting rotation, sophomore Tara Creekmore has recorded double figures in kills six times in eight matches, including 13 in each match last week. She is hitting .197 in those eight matches, with a career-high 15 kills against MSU Moorhead.

One-For-One: Senior Kelly Swyers has attempted exactly one serve in her collegiate career, and it went for an ace on match point on Friday in the sweep over Montana State Billings. Swyers entered in the third set with the Rattlers ahead 22-8, recorded a kill to give the Rattlers match point (24-13) and then served the ace for the win.

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, 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.  

Climbing the Ladder: Laurene Robinson ranks 51st in Division II and 217th among all NCAA Volleyball players in career kills with 884, while she ranks 91st in DII with 0.52 blocks per set and 113th with 174 total blocks.

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.