October 18, 2008
San Antonio – Kori McCarver led three St. Mary’s University players picking up double figures in kills as St. Mary’s University rolled past Newman University, 29-27, 25-17, 25-23, in Heartland Conference volleyball action Saturday afternoon at Bill Greehey Arena.
McCarver (So., San Antonio) had 13 kills against just four attack errors to lead all players in the match. Sarah Moreno (Sr., Pearland) and Katelyn Kershner (So., San Antonio) each added 11 kills. Sondra Cui (Fr., Schertz) had 41 assists and 10 digs for the Rattlers. Valerie Teter (Sr., San Antonio) led the defense with 13 digs.
As a team the Rattlers had 51 kills against just 20 attack errors. Newman had 32 kills and 12 attack errors. St. Mary’s also outblocked the Jets five to three in the match.
The first set was a back-and-forth affair, with the Rattlers taking the early lead at 3-0. Newman rallied, using a 13-4 run to take a 16-9 lead. But St. Mary’s rallied. McCarver and Kershner each had two kills in an 11-4 run that tied the match at 20-20. From there the match went back and forth, with the Rattlers fighting off two set points before a kill by Stephanie Crowell (Jr., The Woodlands) and a ball handling error by Newman gave the Rattlers the hard-fought 29-27 win.
In the second set the Rattlers took a quick 4-0 lead and never trailed in a 25-17 win to take a commanding 2-0 lead. The final set was another back-and-forth battle. Newman took the early lead and expanded the margin to six points at 17-11. But again the Rattlers rallied with a 9-3 run to tie the set at 20-20. After Newman retook the lead at 22-20, the Rattlers won five of the last six points to win the set and the match.
With the win the Rattlers improved to 8-12 overall and 5-4 in Heartland Conference play. Newman fell to 6-21, 2-6. St. Mary’s will return to action this Thursday when they travel to Austin to face St. Edward’s University at 7 p.m. in a key Heartland Conference matchup.