University of St. Thomas Athletics
Thursday, October 26
Denver, Colo. / Hamilton Gymnasium
7:00 p.m. Central
at
Denver
Photo by: Kylie Macziewski
Volleyball traves to Denver, hosts North Dakota to wrap up October
10/25/2023 11:26:00 AM | Volleyball
Toms to play final series matches against Pioneers and Fighting Hawks
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Tommie Volleyball program wraps up the month of October with a road and home match Oct. 26 at Denver and Oct. 28 against North Dakota.
St. Thomas carries on play in the Summit League at 7 p.m. Thursday at Hamilton Gymnasium in Denver, Colo., before returning home Saturday to host North Dakota at 12 p.m. in Schoenecker Arena for Voll-o-ween.
Going Five Against the Mavs
Tommie Volleyball forced the leaders of the Summit League standings to five sets on the road Saturday night before a loss (25-20, 18-25, 25-21, 20-25, 11-15) to the Omaha Mavericks.
The combination of assists by freshman Morgan Kealy and kills by sophomore Tezra Rudzitis gave the Tommies their first three points to start the match. After a tied game at 14's, the Tommies held the lead the rest of the set. Five kills, one block and finally a service ace by Voegele finished off the Mavericks for a 25-20 win for the Tommies.
Kealy again started the set strong with three assists, with two to Rudzitis and one to Gustafson, to help for a 5-3 lead. Back-to-Back kills by senior Claire Ricard from sophomore Allie Kopp gave the Tommies the lead, 11-10. A 10-2 run for the Mavericks pulled them ahead, 20-13, before closing out the set.
Four errors by the Mavericks gave the Tommies their first points of the third set. A kill by Rudzitis and Wetter, as well as a service ace by Kopp helped the Tommies on a 4-0 run and an 8-6 lead. Omaha continued producing errors, while Wetter had a service ace and Gustafson had a kill for a 14-12 St. Thomas lead. Voegele helped the Tommies continue the lead with two assists and service ace for a 19-15 score. The Tommies continued its third-set run and a kill by senior Ellie Dammann finalized the third set for the Tommies.
Omaha started out the fourth set on top with a 5-3 lead, but a 5-0 run helped the Tommies pull ahead, 9-6. Omaha later responded with a 10-2 run of their own for a 15-12 lead. Twelve back-and-forth points led to a 23-20 Omaha lead, before the Mavericks forced a fifth set, 25-20.
The Mavericks started the shortened fifth set on top with a 7-2 lead, but a 4-0 run for the Tommies, including two kills by Mattila from Kealy, helped close the gap, 7-6. The Mavericks scored six of the final nine points, including a long rally at the end, to finish out the match.
Scouting Denver
Denver takes on the Tommies with an overall 8-10 record, posting a 7-3 record in Summit League play. The Pioneers had a five set win over North Dakota (25-17, 21-25, 36-38, 25-12, 15-10) and three set loss to North Dakota State (22-25, 22-25, 24-26) last week. Denver sits atop of the Summit League in service aces per set (1.79).
The Pioneers are leading the Summit League in service aces per set thanks to graduate student middle blocker Cadi Boyer who ranks second. Boyer is averaging 0.42 service aces per set, and also ranks third in blocks per set (1.16). Another leader for Denver is redshirt freshman setter, Briley Decker who ranks third in the Summit League in assists per set (9.66).
During the first meeting between St. Thomas and Denver, the Tommies took one set from the Pioneers in St. Paul. Gustafson led the team with 13 kills and nine digs while sophomore Kaitlynn Peterson added 11 kills.
Scouting North Dakota
North Dakota travels to St. Paul with a record of 6-16 on the season, and a 3-7 record in Summit League action. The Fighting Hawks are coming off a sweep of Oral Roberts (25-18, 28-26, 25-16). North Dakota takes on conference opponent South Dakota State in Grand Forks, N.D., Thursday before matching up against the Tommies on Saturday.
North Dakota is sixth in the Summit League in blocks per set (1.85). Marissa Stockman, sixth year middle blocker/right side, is currently fourth in the Summit League in hitting percentage (.329), and eighth in the conference in blocks per set (0.96) with her season high in kills being 13 and season high in blocks being 10 in the same conference match against South Dakota that ended in a loss for the Fighting Hawks.
North Dakota won the first meeting against St. Thomas, which was the 650th career match as head coach for Thanh Pham with the Purple. Gustafson led the Toms with 11 kills while Kealy added 26 assists.
Can You Dig It?
Voegele has been one of the best when it comes to digs in the Summit League, entering the week second in the conference with 4.21 digs per set. She set the St. Thomas DI record with 7.67 digs per set after totaling 23 digs in three sets against South Dakota State on Sept. 21.
Set Me Up
Freshman setter Morgan Kealy reached 500 assists on the season Tuesday, Oct. 17 against Kansas City. She entered the night with 497 and ranks sixth in the Summit League with 7.31 assists per set and 548 total assists.
Kealy has totaled at least 40 assists in three matches this season, which rank second, third and fourth for most single-match assists during the St. Thomas Division I era.
We'll Take Two Double-Doubles
Gustafson and Kealy both came away with double-doubles during a 3-2 win over North Dakota State Oct. 14. It's the second time two Tommies have recorded a double-double during the same match this season.
Gustafson came away with 15 digs and 13 kills for her second career double-double. She has now topped double-digit kills in five of the last six matches, including 13 during three of the last four.
Kealy finished with 18 digs and 15 assists against NDSU, which stands as her eighth double-double of the season and second of the month.
Two Time All-Tournament Team
Sophomore Ella Voegele ended the Tommie Volleyball tournament season with her second all-tournament team selection in Green Bay this past weekend. Voegele led the Purple in digs for the ninth time this season, adding 11 on Friday. She ended the tournament recording 21 digs in just the two Capital Credit Union Classic matches alone.
A Career-High Kind of Day
The Sept. 9 five-set, comeback victory over Northern Illinois was powered by career high offensive stats from several Tommies. Gustafson led the Tommies with 18 kills, five more than her previous career high set during the season opener at UIC and hit a career best .368.
Sophomore Kaitlynn Peterson also topped her previous career high in kills by five, finishing Saturday's match with 17. She added career bests with 18 points, eight digs, and one assist.
Sophomore Megan Wetter opened the tournament with a career high 12 kills in the win over Evansville before posting 16 against Northern Illinois. She tacked on one block and tied the St. Thomas NCAA Division I single-match record with five service aces to finish with 21.5 points against Northern Illinois.
Freshman Morgan Kealy accounted for 46 of the Tommies 60 assists against NIU, setting a new career best and topping her own mark for the second most assists in a single match for the Purple in the DI era. She recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 12 digs, one shy of junior Lauren Galvin's team high from the 2022 season.
Beginning Another Decade
Head Coach Thanh Pham, who will coach his 650th match with the Tommies this season, enters his 21st season leading the program. His tenure is the longest among the nine Summit League head coaches at their respective schools. Pham coached his 650th match with the program on Friday, Sept. 29, a road match at North Dakota.
The Staff's All Back
All four members of the Tommie Volleyball coaching staff return for the 2023 season. Joining Pham during the previous two seasons since joining NCAA Division I are assistant coaches Joy Tietz and David Ganser. In his second season with the program is assistant coach Kevin Rivas. Also in her second season is director of operations Malissa LeClaire.
Summit League Preseason Poll
The Tommies enter the season ranked eighth as the 2023 Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll was released Wednesday, August 23. St. Thomas garnered 16 points to finish ahead of Oral Roberts in the poll.
Reigning Summit League regular season and tournament champion South Dakota was voted to finish first with 61 points and six first-place votes. North Dakota State followed in second with 54 points and two first-place votes while Omaha rounded out the top three spots with 53 points and the final first-place vote.
Keep an Eye Out
Junior outside hitter Lauren Galvin and sophomore middle blocker Emma Goerger were selected as the team's Players to Watch for 2023. Galvin led the Tommies and ranked 10th in the league with 3.12 kills per set and led the team and was 11th in the Summit with 3.49 points per set. Goerger led the Tommies with 0.97 blocks per set and followed Galvin with 2.67 points per set.
Nice to Meet You
Among the 11 non-conference opponents, the Tommies faced nine for the first time in program history. The only familiar opponents during the non-conference schedule are Montana State and Central Michigan. The Purple beat the Bobcats in five sets during the 2022 season before taking a 3-1 loss Aug. 31 to open the Tommie Invitational. St. Thomas also played Central Michigan in 2022, a 3-1 loss that was avenged with a 3-0 win on Sept. 14, 2023 in Green Bay, Wis.
The Youth Movement Continues
The 20-member Tommie squad is comprised of nine sophomores and five freshmen, to go along with two seniors and four juniors. St. Thomas is the only program in the country with a true sophomore class of at least nine student-athletes and is one of two to have a true sophomore, junior, or senior class of at least nine, joining UT Chattanooga who has a class of nine true juniors.
St. Thomas has seven new student-athletes on its roster this season: Bradley transfer and outside hitter Kaitlynn Peterson (Lakeville, Minn.), UNC Greensboro transfer and defensive specialist Ella Voegele (Plymouth, Minn.), freshman right side Emily Clausen (Waukesha, Wis.), freshman outside hitter Ellie Gustafson (Monticello, Wis.), freshman setter Morgan Kealy (River Falls, Wis.), freshman middle blocker Addison Schmotzer (Madison, Wis.), and freshman outside hitter Miriam Unongo (Minneapolis, Minn.).
Tommie Invitational Volleyball Tournament
The Tommies hosted their first tournament, the Tommie Invitational Volleyball Tournament, as an NCAA Division I program. St. Thomas went 1-2 during the tournament, grabbing a 3-1 win over California Baptist and taking losses of 3-1 to Milwaukee and Montana State.
Summit League Network
Beginning with the 2023 season, all home Tommie Volleyball matches, and all Summit League matches will be streamed exclusively on the Summit League Network, in partnership with Midco Sports. A subscription-based network, viewers can access all St. Thomas athletics events HERE.
Looking at the Yearbook
Reflecting on 2022, the Tommies fielded one of the youngest teams across all of NCAA Division I. Last year's squad included just one senior and three juniors with the youth of sophomores and freshmen including 16 student-athletes.
The Toms improved one victory over their 2021 season total as their second fall of Division I play, but the Purple continue to improve and compete at a high level. They picked up nonconference wins at 14-win Montana State and 18-win Saint Louis and swept Western Illinois in conference play. Both wins against Western Illinois came in straight sets.
All-Freshman Team: Part Two
Emma Goerger and Tezra Rudzitis followed in the footsteps of junior Lauren Galvin as selections to the seven-player Summit League All-Freshman Team last season. Goerger was one of four Toms to play in all 30 matches and ranked ninth in the league with 0.97 blocks per set and 24th with 2.67 points per set. She had 101 total blocks and 195 total kills. Rudzitis played in 28 matches with 21 starts and was second for St. Thomas with 2.07 kills per set (190 total kills).
Follow Along
For more information on St. Thomas Volleyball, follow along on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram at @tommievball
Join Us
To reserve your seat to be a part of the Tommies' 2023 season, click HERE to view ticketing information and purchase options.
-- St. Thomas Athletics --
St. Thomas carries on play in the Summit League at 7 p.m. Thursday at Hamilton Gymnasium in Denver, Colo., before returning home Saturday to host North Dakota at 12 p.m. in Schoenecker Arena for Voll-o-ween.
Going Five Against the Mavs
Tommie Volleyball forced the leaders of the Summit League standings to five sets on the road Saturday night before a loss (25-20, 18-25, 25-21, 20-25, 11-15) to the Omaha Mavericks.
The combination of assists by freshman Morgan Kealy and kills by sophomore Tezra Rudzitis gave the Tommies their first three points to start the match. After a tied game at 14's, the Tommies held the lead the rest of the set. Five kills, one block and finally a service ace by Voegele finished off the Mavericks for a 25-20 win for the Tommies.
Kealy again started the set strong with three assists, with two to Rudzitis and one to Gustafson, to help for a 5-3 lead. Back-to-Back kills by senior Claire Ricard from sophomore Allie Kopp gave the Tommies the lead, 11-10. A 10-2 run for the Mavericks pulled them ahead, 20-13, before closing out the set.
Four errors by the Mavericks gave the Tommies their first points of the third set. A kill by Rudzitis and Wetter, as well as a service ace by Kopp helped the Tommies on a 4-0 run and an 8-6 lead. Omaha continued producing errors, while Wetter had a service ace and Gustafson had a kill for a 14-12 St. Thomas lead. Voegele helped the Tommies continue the lead with two assists and service ace for a 19-15 score. The Tommies continued its third-set run and a kill by senior Ellie Dammann finalized the third set for the Tommies.
Omaha started out the fourth set on top with a 5-3 lead, but a 5-0 run helped the Tommies pull ahead, 9-6. Omaha later responded with a 10-2 run of their own for a 15-12 lead. Twelve back-and-forth points led to a 23-20 Omaha lead, before the Mavericks forced a fifth set, 25-20.
The Mavericks started the shortened fifth set on top with a 7-2 lead, but a 4-0 run for the Tommies, including two kills by Mattila from Kealy, helped close the gap, 7-6. The Mavericks scored six of the final nine points, including a long rally at the end, to finish out the match.
Scouting Denver
Denver takes on the Tommies with an overall 8-10 record, posting a 7-3 record in Summit League play. The Pioneers had a five set win over North Dakota (25-17, 21-25, 36-38, 25-12, 15-10) and three set loss to North Dakota State (22-25, 22-25, 24-26) last week. Denver sits atop of the Summit League in service aces per set (1.79).
The Pioneers are leading the Summit League in service aces per set thanks to graduate student middle blocker Cadi Boyer who ranks second. Boyer is averaging 0.42 service aces per set, and also ranks third in blocks per set (1.16). Another leader for Denver is redshirt freshman setter, Briley Decker who ranks third in the Summit League in assists per set (9.66).
During the first meeting between St. Thomas and Denver, the Tommies took one set from the Pioneers in St. Paul. Gustafson led the team with 13 kills and nine digs while sophomore Kaitlynn Peterson added 11 kills.
Scouting North Dakota
North Dakota travels to St. Paul with a record of 6-16 on the season, and a 3-7 record in Summit League action. The Fighting Hawks are coming off a sweep of Oral Roberts (25-18, 28-26, 25-16). North Dakota takes on conference opponent South Dakota State in Grand Forks, N.D., Thursday before matching up against the Tommies on Saturday.
North Dakota is sixth in the Summit League in blocks per set (1.85). Marissa Stockman, sixth year middle blocker/right side, is currently fourth in the Summit League in hitting percentage (.329), and eighth in the conference in blocks per set (0.96) with her season high in kills being 13 and season high in blocks being 10 in the same conference match against South Dakota that ended in a loss for the Fighting Hawks.
North Dakota won the first meeting against St. Thomas, which was the 650th career match as head coach for Thanh Pham with the Purple. Gustafson led the Toms with 11 kills while Kealy added 26 assists.
Can You Dig It?
Voegele has been one of the best when it comes to digs in the Summit League, entering the week second in the conference with 4.21 digs per set. She set the St. Thomas DI record with 7.67 digs per set after totaling 23 digs in three sets against South Dakota State on Sept. 21.
Set Me Up
Freshman setter Morgan Kealy reached 500 assists on the season Tuesday, Oct. 17 against Kansas City. She entered the night with 497 and ranks sixth in the Summit League with 7.31 assists per set and 548 total assists.
Kealy has totaled at least 40 assists in three matches this season, which rank second, third and fourth for most single-match assists during the St. Thomas Division I era.
We'll Take Two Double-Doubles
Gustafson and Kealy both came away with double-doubles during a 3-2 win over North Dakota State Oct. 14. It's the second time two Tommies have recorded a double-double during the same match this season.
Gustafson came away with 15 digs and 13 kills for her second career double-double. She has now topped double-digit kills in five of the last six matches, including 13 during three of the last four.
Kealy finished with 18 digs and 15 assists against NDSU, which stands as her eighth double-double of the season and second of the month.
Two Time All-Tournament Team
Sophomore Ella Voegele ended the Tommie Volleyball tournament season with her second all-tournament team selection in Green Bay this past weekend. Voegele led the Purple in digs for the ninth time this season, adding 11 on Friday. She ended the tournament recording 21 digs in just the two Capital Credit Union Classic matches alone.
A Career-High Kind of Day
The Sept. 9 five-set, comeback victory over Northern Illinois was powered by career high offensive stats from several Tommies. Gustafson led the Tommies with 18 kills, five more than her previous career high set during the season opener at UIC and hit a career best .368.
Sophomore Kaitlynn Peterson also topped her previous career high in kills by five, finishing Saturday's match with 17. She added career bests with 18 points, eight digs, and one assist.
Sophomore Megan Wetter opened the tournament with a career high 12 kills in the win over Evansville before posting 16 against Northern Illinois. She tacked on one block and tied the St. Thomas NCAA Division I single-match record with five service aces to finish with 21.5 points against Northern Illinois.
Freshman Morgan Kealy accounted for 46 of the Tommies 60 assists against NIU, setting a new career best and topping her own mark for the second most assists in a single match for the Purple in the DI era. She recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 12 digs, one shy of junior Lauren Galvin's team high from the 2022 season.
Beginning Another Decade
Head Coach Thanh Pham, who will coach his 650th match with the Tommies this season, enters his 21st season leading the program. His tenure is the longest among the nine Summit League head coaches at their respective schools. Pham coached his 650th match with the program on Friday, Sept. 29, a road match at North Dakota.
The Staff's All Back
All four members of the Tommie Volleyball coaching staff return for the 2023 season. Joining Pham during the previous two seasons since joining NCAA Division I are assistant coaches Joy Tietz and David Ganser. In his second season with the program is assistant coach Kevin Rivas. Also in her second season is director of operations Malissa LeClaire.
Summit League Preseason Poll
The Tommies enter the season ranked eighth as the 2023 Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll was released Wednesday, August 23. St. Thomas garnered 16 points to finish ahead of Oral Roberts in the poll.
Reigning Summit League regular season and tournament champion South Dakota was voted to finish first with 61 points and six first-place votes. North Dakota State followed in second with 54 points and two first-place votes while Omaha rounded out the top three spots with 53 points and the final first-place vote.
Keep an Eye Out
Junior outside hitter Lauren Galvin and sophomore middle blocker Emma Goerger were selected as the team's Players to Watch for 2023. Galvin led the Tommies and ranked 10th in the league with 3.12 kills per set and led the team and was 11th in the Summit with 3.49 points per set. Goerger led the Tommies with 0.97 blocks per set and followed Galvin with 2.67 points per set.
Nice to Meet You
Among the 11 non-conference opponents, the Tommies faced nine for the first time in program history. The only familiar opponents during the non-conference schedule are Montana State and Central Michigan. The Purple beat the Bobcats in five sets during the 2022 season before taking a 3-1 loss Aug. 31 to open the Tommie Invitational. St. Thomas also played Central Michigan in 2022, a 3-1 loss that was avenged with a 3-0 win on Sept. 14, 2023 in Green Bay, Wis.
The Youth Movement Continues
The 20-member Tommie squad is comprised of nine sophomores and five freshmen, to go along with two seniors and four juniors. St. Thomas is the only program in the country with a true sophomore class of at least nine student-athletes and is one of two to have a true sophomore, junior, or senior class of at least nine, joining UT Chattanooga who has a class of nine true juniors.
St. Thomas has seven new student-athletes on its roster this season: Bradley transfer and outside hitter Kaitlynn Peterson (Lakeville, Minn.), UNC Greensboro transfer and defensive specialist Ella Voegele (Plymouth, Minn.), freshman right side Emily Clausen (Waukesha, Wis.), freshman outside hitter Ellie Gustafson (Monticello, Wis.), freshman setter Morgan Kealy (River Falls, Wis.), freshman middle blocker Addison Schmotzer (Madison, Wis.), and freshman outside hitter Miriam Unongo (Minneapolis, Minn.).
Tommie Invitational Volleyball Tournament
The Tommies hosted their first tournament, the Tommie Invitational Volleyball Tournament, as an NCAA Division I program. St. Thomas went 1-2 during the tournament, grabbing a 3-1 win over California Baptist and taking losses of 3-1 to Milwaukee and Montana State.
Summit League Network
Beginning with the 2023 season, all home Tommie Volleyball matches, and all Summit League matches will be streamed exclusively on the Summit League Network, in partnership with Midco Sports. A subscription-based network, viewers can access all St. Thomas athletics events HERE.
Looking at the Yearbook
Reflecting on 2022, the Tommies fielded one of the youngest teams across all of NCAA Division I. Last year's squad included just one senior and three juniors with the youth of sophomores and freshmen including 16 student-athletes.
The Toms improved one victory over their 2021 season total as their second fall of Division I play, but the Purple continue to improve and compete at a high level. They picked up nonconference wins at 14-win Montana State and 18-win Saint Louis and swept Western Illinois in conference play. Both wins against Western Illinois came in straight sets.
All-Freshman Team: Part Two
Emma Goerger and Tezra Rudzitis followed in the footsteps of junior Lauren Galvin as selections to the seven-player Summit League All-Freshman Team last season. Goerger was one of four Toms to play in all 30 matches and ranked ninth in the league with 0.97 blocks per set and 24th with 2.67 points per set. She had 101 total blocks and 195 total kills. Rudzitis played in 28 matches with 21 starts and was second for St. Thomas with 2.07 kills per set (190 total kills).
Follow Along
For more information on St. Thomas Volleyball, follow along on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram at @tommievball
Join Us
To reserve your seat to be a part of the Tommies' 2023 season, click HERE to view ticketing information and purchase options.
-- St. Thomas Athletics --
Players Mentioned
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/ VolleyballSt. Thomas Volleyball 2023 Intro Video
Tuesday, September 05
Volleyball
Saturday, November 19
St. Thomas Volleyball 2022 Intro Video
Friday, September 30
Volleyball vs. South Dakota
Saturday, November 06
