Match Information
Score: St. Mary's 3, Lubbock Christian 0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-17)
Records: Lubbock Christian (19-7, 14-3), StMU (14-10, 8-9)
Location: Bill Greehey Arena – San Antonio, Texas

Highlights
Lubbock Christian University had their seven-match win streak halted and suffered their second road loss of the season, falling to St. Mary's in straight sets to bring a close to the regular season. The Lady Chaps complete the regular season in a share of third place in the Lone Star Conference standings, and they take the No.3-seed at the LSC Championships in San Angelo, Texas. LCU receives an opening round bye and will play a quarterfinals match Thursday against Eastern New Mexico or Dallas Baptist inside Junell Center on the campus of Angelo State.
 
St. Mary's was led by Julia Aleman and Alissa Tolbert, who each had 10 kills to lead the match. Cali Nims (21 assists, 11 digs) and Tolbert (11 digs, 10 kills) each notched double-double performances for the Rattlers. StMU had a 46-32 advantage in kills and hit .267 in the win.
 
How It Happened

Set One:
A 4-1 and 4-0 run off the start helped StMU jump out to an early 8-4 advantage. The Rattlers had a 16-point scoring sequence in which they had 11 of the 16 points, as it came during a span in which LCU did not have consecutive points and led to a 24-16 lead. The Rattlers had a trio of aces and four kills each from Aleman and Tolbert to take a 25-18 opening set victory. Hannah Froeschl had four kills and a block in the opening set.      

Set Two:
The second set was tied early (4-4), but the Rattlers eventually broke away with a 6-0 run, which was part of a 9-1 run with eight of the points resulting from kills. The sequence proved StMU a 17-8 lead. Tolbert served an ace to cap a 5-0 scoring run to end the set with the Rattlers claiming a 25-14 set win for a 2-0 match lead. The Rattlers had a 16-9 advantage in kills in the set, with Rachel McDonald leading StMU with five in the frame. Aaliyah Gray led LCU with four kills.

Set Three:
The third period had the same tone. StMU held LCU without multiple point trends until Sage Post book-ended a 3-0 run with kills to cut StMU's lead to 9-8. The Rattlers responded with a 7-2 run and a kill from Tolbert capped the run with StMU leading 16-10. A trio of LCU kills allowed LCU to pull with three (17-14), but StMU closed the match on an 8-3 run for a 25-17 set win. Tolbert produced six kills in the set. Kaitlyn Mayo led LCU in the set with four kills.
 
Inside the Numbers:

19-2	LCU's loss moved them to 19-6 overall to end the regular season, and 10-2 on the road. With LCU 10-2 on the road and 8-1 at home, LCU moved to 18-3 in non-neutral site matches.
0	The Lady Chaps went without an ace for the second time this season. They went without an ace on Oct. 6 at Angelo State. Prior to that mark, the Lady Chaps hadn't gone ace-less since Nov. 9, 2019 at St. Edward's.
8	With eight kills, Hannah Froeschl jumped past Aaliyah Gray and is LCU's team leader in kills at regular season's close with 235 on the season. Gray is two back at 233 on the season.
14-3	LCU closes conference play with a 14-3 record, sharing third place with West Texas A&M, but owning the seeding tiebreaker due to LCU's head-to-head win over the Lady Buffs.
15	The win was StMU's 15th ever in 26 meetings against LCU. The Rattlers are now 15-11 all-time against LCU and 2-0 this season in head-to-head meetings.

 
What's Next:
LCU is the No.3 seed for the LSC Championships. They will face either No.11 Eastern New Mexico or No.6 Dallas Baptist Thursday at noon in San Angelo, Texas. If LCU advances to the semifinals, they will play Friday at 5 p.m.