September 7, 2007
San Antonio–Kori McCarver had 11 kills, while Samantha Weber had nine kills and five blocks, as St. Mary’s University swept past the University of Central Oklahoma, 30-26, 32-30, 31-29, on the first day of the Cameron University/Best Western Invitational at Aggie Gymnasium.
McCarver (Fr., San Antonio) had her second straight double-digit kill match, picking up 11 against just three attack errors. Weber (Sr., Fort Lupton, Colo.) had nine kills and a team-high five blocks. Stephanie Crowell (So., The Woodlands) had eight kills and five block assists.
As a team the Rattlers had 42 kills, 52 digs and nine blocks. Valerie Teter (Jr., San Antonio) led the defense with 16 digs.
The Rattlers trailed in each of the games of the match. In game one they trailed until late when a pair of McCarver kills and three attack errors by the Bronchos allowed the Rattlers to finish the game with a 7-2 run to win the game, 30-26.
In game two the Rattlers trailed early 5-1 and were behind by six at 27-21 late as UCO looked like a solid bet to even the match. However, the Rattlers won eight of the next 10 points to even things at 29-29. Sarah Moreno (Jr., Pearland) then finished off the comeback with a kill to end the game with a 32-30 win for the Rattlers.
Again in game three the Rattlers fell behind early and trailed by eight at 17-9. The Rattlers came back again, outscoring the Bronchos 13-4 to take a 22-21 lead. UCO rallied to retake the lead at 27-24, but two Broncho attack errors with the score tied at 29-29 helped the Rattlers pick up the win in game three and the match.
With the win the Rattlers have now won two straight matches and improved to 4-5 overall. UCO fell to 6-3. St. Mary’s will continue play at the Best Western Invitational on Saturday with matches against Truman State at 9 a.m. and Missouri Western State at 1 p.m.