University of St. Thomas Athletics
Thursday, October 5
St. Paul, Minn.
7:00 p.m. Central
vs
Denver
Photo by: Orney Walker
Tommie Volleyball hosts Denver, Oral Roberts
10/3/2023 2:04:00 PM | Volleyball
St. Thomas to host Professor Night Thursday, Alumni Day Saturday
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Tommie Volleyball program returns home to Schoenecker Arena Oct. 5 and 7 to take on the University of Denver and Oral Roberts University to continue Summit League play.
St. Thomas opens the weekend at 7 p.m. on Thursday against the Pioneers for Professor Night, and following Saturday at 11 a.m. against the Golden Eagles for Alumni Day.
Narrow Margins
The first road match of the 2023 Summit League schedule ended with a loss for St. Thomas volleyball against North Dakota State, 3-0 (22-25, 15-25, 27-29). Freshman outside hitter Ellie Gustafson led with 11 kills while fellow freshman setter Morgan Kealy totaled 26 assists.
The Tommies held an early 4-1 lead over the Bison before NDSU went on a run to pull ahead, 16-11. St. Thomas responded with a four-point run of their own followed by sophomore outside hitter Ava Wild totaling three kills for the final St. Thomas points of the opening set loss.
Sophomore middle blocker Megan Wetter and sophomore outside hitter Tezra Rudzitis each totaled four kills in set two as the Purple saw an early led slip.
The Tommies secured an 11-4 lead to start the third set while Gustafson recorded three of Tommies' four kills to hold of a Bison push. A late kill by senior middle blocker Ellie Dammann and an NDSU attack error set up a 23-20 lead for St. Thomas. The Bison scored four straight to reach match point and won after three set-points for the Purple.
Road Trip Finale Spoiled
The Tommies and Fighting Hawks went back-and-forth early during a 3-0 loss (23-25, 17-25, 15-25) to North Dakota on Sept. 29 in Grand Forks, N.D. Head Coach Thanh Pham coached in his 650th match with the program as Gustafson led the team with 10 kills and added seven digs.
Set one featured 12 tied scores but North Dakota scored five of the last seven points to take the win. Kealy notched nine assists in the first set while Gustafson added four kills.
The Fighting Hawks came out hot over the next two sets, going on a 7-1 run to start the second and a 7-2 run in the third. UND scored nine of the final 10 points in the second set and six of the last nine to close the match.
Can You Dig It?
Sophomore libero Ella Voegele has been one of the best when it comes to digs in the Summit League, entering the week second in the conference with 4.20 digs per set. She set the St. Thomas DI record with 23 digs in three sets against South Dakota State, averaging out to 7.67 digs per set.
Reaching the Century Mark
Freshman outside hitter Ellie Gustafson is one of two Tommies to reach 100 kills on the season, hitting the century milestone on her second-to-last kill Sept. 28 at North Dakota State. She enters the weekend with 112 total kills and is 11th in the Summit League with 2.67 kills per set.
Sophomore middle blocker Megan Wetter hit the 100 kill mark first, also Sept. 28 at North Dakota State, as she hit her sixth of seven total kills against the Bison. She reached the 100 kill total in her career during the same match.
Set Me Up
Just over the halfway point of the season, freshman setter Morgan Kealy reached 408 assists after totaling 17 on Sept. 29 at North Dakota. She ranks fifth in the Summit League in total assists and assists per set (8.33).
Kealy has totaled at least 40 assists in three matches this season and leads the team with six double-doubles.
Celebrate with Volleyball
Tommie Volleyball will be hosting Professor Night Thursday against Denver and Alumni Day Saturday against Oral Roberts. Members of the team will celebrate a selected professor prior to Thursday's match while a host of Tommie Volleyball will be on hand to witness Saturday's match.
Scouting Denver
University of Denver takes on the Tommies with an overall 4-8 record, posting a 3-1 record in Summit League play. The Pioneers opened conference matches with a 3-0 win over North Dakota (25-21, 25-18, 25-17) and a 3-0 win against NDSU (25-23, 25-23, 26-24). Denver sits atop of the Summit League in service aces per set (1.82).
The Pioneers are leading the Summit League in service aces per set thanks to graduate student, middle blocker, Cadi Boyer who ranks first in the Summit League for service aces per set. Boyer is averaging 0.49 service aces per set and ranks third in blocks per set (1.18). Another leader for Denver is redshirt freshman setter, Briley Decker who ranks third in the Summit League in assists per set (9.36).
Scouting Oral Roberts
Oral Roberts University travels to St. Paul, MN with a record of 2-13 on the season, and a 0-3 record in Summit League action. The Golden Eagles started off conference play losing their opener to NDSU in 4 sets (22-25, 18-25, 25-22, 21-25), and then losing in a five-set thriller to North Dakota (18-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-15, 14-16). Oral Roberts takes on conference opponent Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska on Thursday before matching up against the Tommies on Saturday.
Oral Roberts is fourth in the Summit League in digs per set (14.27). Breanna Rivas, junior DS/L, is currently fourth in the Summit League in digs per set (3.68), and junior outside hitter Trinity Freeman ranks first in the conference in kills per set (3.80) with her season high in kills being 21 in a conference match against North Dakota that ended in a loss for the Golden Eagles.
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. He notched his 10th career NCAA Division I win Sep. 9 during the victory over Northern Illinois.
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.
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 Sep. 9 five-set, comeback victory over Northern Illinois was powered by career high offensive stats from several Tommies. Freshman Ellie 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.
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 opens the weekend at 7 p.m. on Thursday against the Pioneers for Professor Night, and following Saturday at 11 a.m. against the Golden Eagles for Alumni Day.
Narrow Margins
The first road match of the 2023 Summit League schedule ended with a loss for St. Thomas volleyball against North Dakota State, 3-0 (22-25, 15-25, 27-29). Freshman outside hitter Ellie Gustafson led with 11 kills while fellow freshman setter Morgan Kealy totaled 26 assists.
The Tommies held an early 4-1 lead over the Bison before NDSU went on a run to pull ahead, 16-11. St. Thomas responded with a four-point run of their own followed by sophomore outside hitter Ava Wild totaling three kills for the final St. Thomas points of the opening set loss.
Sophomore middle blocker Megan Wetter and sophomore outside hitter Tezra Rudzitis each totaled four kills in set two as the Purple saw an early led slip.
The Tommies secured an 11-4 lead to start the third set while Gustafson recorded three of Tommies' four kills to hold of a Bison push. A late kill by senior middle blocker Ellie Dammann and an NDSU attack error set up a 23-20 lead for St. Thomas. The Bison scored four straight to reach match point and won after three set-points for the Purple.
Road Trip Finale Spoiled
The Tommies and Fighting Hawks went back-and-forth early during a 3-0 loss (23-25, 17-25, 15-25) to North Dakota on Sept. 29 in Grand Forks, N.D. Head Coach Thanh Pham coached in his 650th match with the program as Gustafson led the team with 10 kills and added seven digs.
Set one featured 12 tied scores but North Dakota scored five of the last seven points to take the win. Kealy notched nine assists in the first set while Gustafson added four kills.
The Fighting Hawks came out hot over the next two sets, going on a 7-1 run to start the second and a 7-2 run in the third. UND scored nine of the final 10 points in the second set and six of the last nine to close the match.
Can You Dig It?
Sophomore libero Ella Voegele has been one of the best when it comes to digs in the Summit League, entering the week second in the conference with 4.20 digs per set. She set the St. Thomas DI record with 23 digs in three sets against South Dakota State, averaging out to 7.67 digs per set.
Reaching the Century Mark
Freshman outside hitter Ellie Gustafson is one of two Tommies to reach 100 kills on the season, hitting the century milestone on her second-to-last kill Sept. 28 at North Dakota State. She enters the weekend with 112 total kills and is 11th in the Summit League with 2.67 kills per set.
Sophomore middle blocker Megan Wetter hit the 100 kill mark first, also Sept. 28 at North Dakota State, as she hit her sixth of seven total kills against the Bison. She reached the 100 kill total in her career during the same match.
Set Me Up
Just over the halfway point of the season, freshman setter Morgan Kealy reached 408 assists after totaling 17 on Sept. 29 at North Dakota. She ranks fifth in the Summit League in total assists and assists per set (8.33).
Kealy has totaled at least 40 assists in three matches this season and leads the team with six double-doubles.
Celebrate with Volleyball
Tommie Volleyball will be hosting Professor Night Thursday against Denver and Alumni Day Saturday against Oral Roberts. Members of the team will celebrate a selected professor prior to Thursday's match while a host of Tommie Volleyball will be on hand to witness Saturday's match.
Scouting Denver
University of Denver takes on the Tommies with an overall 4-8 record, posting a 3-1 record in Summit League play. The Pioneers opened conference matches with a 3-0 win over North Dakota (25-21, 25-18, 25-17) and a 3-0 win against NDSU (25-23, 25-23, 26-24). Denver sits atop of the Summit League in service aces per set (1.82).
The Pioneers are leading the Summit League in service aces per set thanks to graduate student, middle blocker, Cadi Boyer who ranks first in the Summit League for service aces per set. Boyer is averaging 0.49 service aces per set and ranks third in blocks per set (1.18). Another leader for Denver is redshirt freshman setter, Briley Decker who ranks third in the Summit League in assists per set (9.36).
Scouting Oral Roberts
Oral Roberts University travels to St. Paul, MN with a record of 2-13 on the season, and a 0-3 record in Summit League action. The Golden Eagles started off conference play losing their opener to NDSU in 4 sets (22-25, 18-25, 25-22, 21-25), and then losing in a five-set thriller to North Dakota (18-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-15, 14-16). Oral Roberts takes on conference opponent Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska on Thursday before matching up against the Tommies on Saturday.
Oral Roberts is fourth in the Summit League in digs per set (14.27). Breanna Rivas, junior DS/L, is currently fourth in the Summit League in digs per set (3.68), and junior outside hitter Trinity Freeman ranks first in the conference in kills per set (3.80) with her season high in kills being 21 in a conference match against North Dakota that ended in a loss for the Golden Eagles.
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. He notched his 10th career NCAA Division I win Sep. 9 during the victory over Northern Illinois.
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.
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 Sep. 9 five-set, comeback victory over Northern Illinois was powered by career high offensive stats from several Tommies. Freshman Ellie 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.
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 --
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