THE RUNDOWN
DBU (7-3) beat St. Mary's (6-3) in a Friday night showdown to open up the Lone Star Conference play. The Lady Patriot's win over the Rattlers gives them a six-game winning streak, their longest mark since the 2015 season.

Kasey Holand helped lead the Lady Patriots to a 3-1 win over the Rattles with four massive blocks. Freshman Bailey Hebert also posted a career-high three blocks to help DBU win the third set of the night.
 
In the first set, the Rattlers got out to a quick 5-2 lead over the Lady Patriots, but three straight kills via Brooke Clark led DBU back to a 5-5 tie.  Both teams kept the score tight allowing little breathing room for eleven points, but it was the Rattlers who pulled ahead to lead 19-16 forcing a DBU timeout. St. Mary's kept the momentum to win the first set, 25-21.
 
In the second set, St. Mary's got the early break to move ahead 6-2 before a DBU timeout. Three kills by Emma Eakin and one from Lexie Houston helped DBU close the gap back to a two-point deficit at 12-10. Another Eakin kill and an attack error helped DBU tie the game at 13-13. Both teams kept a tied game for the next couple points, but it was the Lady Patriots who pulled ahead to a 17-15 lead. DBU maintained their lead with help from Kasey Holand and two massive blocks.  DBU pulled ahead to win 25-20.
 
The third set started out tight, but it was the Rattlers who pulled ahead after a 3-0 run to force a DBU timeout.  After the break, the Lady Patriots fed the ball to Lexie Houston for massive kill and a block by Bailey Hebert to go on a 2-0 run to close the gap 8-7. The Rattlers kept a steady two-point lead over DBU, another Holand and Houston kill brought the Lady Patriots back to a tie game at 10-10. This time it was DBU who pulled ahead with two Eakin kills to help the Lady Patriots lead 14-12 to force a Rattlers timeout. Going into the final timeout of the game, the Lady Patriots led 21-19 and maintained the lead for the remainder of the set with a final kill from freshman Bailey Hebert to help DBU take the lead, 25-23.
 
In the fourth set, it was DBU who was able to pull ahead early to a 7-5 lead.  The Rattlers rallied back to tie the game 7-7, but two errors by St. Mary's gave DBU the edge to lead 10-8. After a St. Mary's timeout, the Lady Patriots kept the momentum to go on another 4-0 run to force the Rattlers into another timeout.  After the break, it was St. Mary's who gained some momentum to close the gap 16-14 after a couple bad sets and an error by the Lady Patriots. The Rattlers fought back to tie the game at 17-17, but the Lady Patriots didn't let up to go on a 2-0 run to take the lead back.  A final error by the Rattlers gave DBU the advantage to win, 25-21 in the final set.
 
KEY STORYLINES
-Emma Eakin and Lexie Houston tied their season-high in kills
-Kasey Holand led the team in blocks (4) with freshman Bailey Hebert right behind with three
-Brooke Clark led the team in digs posting a career-high (20)
 
HEAD COACH CATHY KOKEL ON THE TEAM'S COMEBACK AFTER THE FIRST SET
"Serving aggressively and knowing where it needed to go really brought us back into the game. Aggressive serves really helped the girls get out of the system and helped them overcome any fear they were feeling."
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
9- Total blocks with almost half coming from Kasey Holand
6- Game winning streak matching the season-high back in 2015
82- Total digs on the match
 
UP NEXT
The Lady Patriots will be back in the Burg Center Saturday at 1:00 p.m. to face off against St. Edward's.