SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Saturday is shaping up to be a potentially historic day for the St. Mary’s volleyball team.

The Lady Rattlers continued their winning ways Friday, opening the American International Tournament with a pair of victories, sweeping Holy Family and later stomping Dominican at the Butova Gymnasium.

The triumphs brought St. Mary’s season record to a clean 7-0, leaving them just two wins shy of matching the best start in school history (9-0), set back in 1996.

St. Mary’s will take on Dowling at 10 a.m. Saturday before closing out the tournament against the host, American International, at 12 p.m.

Making a strong push to be considered for the AVCA’s national Top 25 poll, the Rattlers left nothing to chance in Friday’s matches.

The Rattlers swept Holy Family (1-5) 25-20, 25-18, 25-22, and proceeded to do the same to Dominican (2-4), winning 25-12, 25-15, 25-10.

Karlie Ortega (So., San Antonio) led the Rattlers with 15 kills against Holy Family, while Allie Murray (Jr., San Antonio) recorded a team-high 22 assists to go along with 12 digs. Victorria Martinez (Fr., San Antonio) led everyone with 18 digs.

Against Dominican, it was Stephanie Proske (Sr., La Grange, Texas) leading the offensive attack, registering 11 kills and hitting .688.

Murray also had a strong offensive game, hitting .666 with six kills and 20 assists, while Kirsten Chapman (Sr., Jourdanton, Texas) recorded seven kills with just a single error over eight attempts. Ortega added 15 digs and Martinez 13.

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