St. Mary's University News Center

Julie Kells sets for the Rattlers. (File Photo: Antonio Morano / www.moranomemories.photoreflect.com)
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SAN ANTONIO — St. Mary’s freshman Taylor Obermiller put it best following Thursday’s 3–0 victory over Newman at Bill Greehey Arena.

“It definitely feels good being home,” the San Antonio native said.

Yes, home cookin’ is a real thing for these Rattlers, who improved to 8–0 at home this season with the hard–fought win over the scrappy Jets, whose 1–8 Heartland Conference record hardly depicts the caliber of the squad they put on the court.

Hear Taylor Obermiller's thoughts on the game

Stephanie Proske (Sr., La Grange, Texas) led the Rattlers with seven kills, while Allie Murray (Jr., San Antonio) posted 29 assists and Victorria Martinez (Fr., Arlington, Texas) had a team–high 18 digs in what was the Rattlers’ first home match since Sept. 24.

St. Mary’s (15–8, 5–5 in conference) had to battle for every point against Newman (4–18 overall), winning 25–21, 25–22, 25–23.

The Rattlers looked to be in control early, opening up a 17–11 lead midway through the first frame. But the Jets fought back, reeling off an 8–2 run to tie the game at 19–19. But St. Mary’s regained control, as Murray recorded back–to–back points coming out of a timeout to pave the way for the 25–21 victory.

Re–watch the match!

That game certainly set the tone for what was to come, as a back–and–forth second set came to a head as Kirsten Chapman (Sr., Jourdanton, Texas) put down a kill to even things up at 13–13. It marked one of 10 times the two teams were tied up during the set, during which the Rattlers broke away late by reeling off the final three points to win 25–22.

The third set was no different, with St. Mary’s overcoming a 23–22 deficit to win 25–23.

The victory helped the Rattlers move into a tie for fifth place with Texas–Permian Basin in the league standings, and they could move as high as a three–way tie for fourth depending on the outcome of Thursday’s Arkansas–Fort Smith–Texas A&M International match.

St. Mary’s will be back in action on Saturday, when it hosts UA Fort Smith at 12 p.m. at Bill Greehey Arena.

St. Mary’s University, as a Catholic Marianist University, fosters the formation of people in faith and educates leaders for the common good through community service, integrated liberal arts and professional education, and academic excellence. The University has six athletic national titles: men’s basketball (1989–NAIA), baseball (2001–NCAA Div. II), softball (1986–NAIA and 2002–NCAA Div. II) and an individual national champion in men’s golf (2006–NCAA Div. II) and a national academic championship in men’s golf (2009–NCAA Div. II). St. Mary’s also had more than 40 percent of its athletes named to conference, regional and/or national honor rolls this past year. St. Mary’s student–athletes graduation rate is 65 percent, higher than the NCAA Division II average of 55 percent. To learn more about St. Mary's, visit www.stmarytx.edu/athletics.