The Dallas Baptist Lady Patriot Volleyball improved to 5-1 in the Heartland Conference with a victory over St. Mary's University on Saturday night. The two teams went point for point with each other, but DBU eventually prevailed in five sets, to move to 11-12 overall on the season.

The two teams battled back and forth throughout the first four sets. DBU took the opening set, 25-21, but suffered a seven point loss in the second, 18-25. The third set came down to the wire, with the Lady Patriots eventually prevailing, 26-24.

Trailing two sets to one in front of their home crowd, the Rattlers refused to concede the fourth set, winning 26-24, to force a decisive fifth set.

The Lady Patriots finally put STMU away in the tie breaker, 15-6, off of eight kills and no errors, for a game-high .364 attack percentage.

Four Lady Patriots posted double-digit kills at the end of the 102-point match, led by Sophomore Becky Swann. Swann finished with 16 kills, followed by Sophomore Graysen Reed who ended the day with 14 kills and 17 digs. Sophomore Christina Steinkruger and Freshman Krystal Wunderlich posted 12 and 10 kills, respectively.

Freshman Lauren Pavloske ended the day with a game and a career high, 28 digs.

The win marks the end of a seven-game road trip for the Lady Patriots, as they return to Dallas for their next match against UA Fort Smith on October 15. Game time on Friday is set for 2:00 p.m. at the Burg Center.