St. Mary´s Volleyball Falls to Texas A&M-International

Kirsten Chapman had 15 kills, but St. Mary's dropped its third straight match in four sets against Texas A&M-International on Saturday.

LAREDO—Stephanie Crowell and Kirsten Chapman combined for 25 kills, but St. Mary’s University fell for the third straight match, 25-21, 25-21, 20-25, 25-21, against Texas A&M International University in Heartland Conference volleyball action Saturday at the Kinesiology Building.

Crowell (Jr., The Woodlands) had her best this season, posting 12 kills against just one attack error. Chapman (Fr., Jourdanton) reached double figures in kills for the second straight match with 13 against the Dustdevils. As a team the Rattlers had 49 kills against 21 attack errors.

The Rattlers led by as much as six points in the first set and had a three-point edge at 18-15 late in the set before the Dustdevils rallied. Four kills by Nicole Gipson keyed a 9-1 run that turned the three-point deficit into a five-point lead, and helped TAMIU to a 25-21 win. In the second set the Dustdevils took a big early lead and held off a late rally for a 25-21 win. In the third set the Rattlers took a commanding lead early on, lost that lead, but finished strong with a 7-2 run to win the set 25-20. In the fourth set the Rattlers again took the lead early and led 21-19. But the Dustdevils won the final six points to take the set and the match.

Gipson led the Dustdevils with 16 kills, while Brittany Smith had 12 kills. The two combined for 28 kills against just three attack errors.

With the loss the Rattlers fell to 8-15 overall and 5-6 in Heartland Conference play. TAMIU improved to 5-20, 2-9. St. Mary’s will return to action on Wednesday when they travel across town to face the University of the Incarnate Word in a Heartland Conference matchup starting at 7 p.m.

Volleyball Coaches

Head Coach Jenny Warmack-Chipman

A Texas native and former Longhorn volleyball player is one of St. Mary’s University’s newest head coaches. Jenny Warmack-Chipman recently became St. Mary’s eighth volleyball head coach.

"We are very excited to welcome Jenny to the St. Mary’s University family," Migl said. "Her experience as a coach and administrator has prepared her well for this position. We look forward to seeing the new direction our volleyball program will take, both on and off the court."

Warmack-Chipman comes to St. Mary’s after spending the last 10 years as the head coach at NCAA Division III Muhlenberg College (Allentown, Pa.). She also served as Muhlenberg’s assistant athletic director, senior woman administrator and advisor to the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Warmack-Chipman was the school’s all-time leader in wins with 133. During 10 seasons at Muhlenberg, Mule players earned All-Centennial Conference 17 times, 24 were named to the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll and one was named NCAA Division III All-American. In 2001, she led the Mules to a 20-11 record, a share of their first Centennial Conference regular-season championship and a second-place finish in the CC Tournament. The Mules returned to the playoffs in 2009, winning seven of their final 10 matches.

Before coaching for Muhlenberg, Warmack-Chipman was an assistant coach at Southern Methodist University and Wichita State University. While at SMU, she received her master’s degree in liberal arts. Warmack-Chipman, from Plano, Texas, is a 1996 graduate of the University of Texas; she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology. While a student at UT, she played on a Longhorn team that was ranked No. 1 in the country and was named to the 1994 All-Southwest Conference team.

"I am so excited to be back in Texas and to be the next head coach at St. Mary’s University," Warmack-Chipman said. "The Rattlers athletics program has a long history of excellence and I am extremely motivated to get it back on top. I’d like to thank Charlie Migl, Donna Fields and the rest of the search committee for this opportunity. I hope to use my experience at both the Division I and Division III levels to advance the St. Mary's volleyball program."

2009 St. Mary's Numerical Roster