Bobcats take down St. Thomas in Tommie Invitational opener

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Senior Ellie Dammann led Tommie Volleyball with seven blocks and added eight kills during the first game of the St. Thomas Invitational, a 3-1 loss (17-25, 21-25, 25-23, 27-29) to Montana State at Schoenecker Arena.

Dammann paced the team with 11.5 points for the Tommies while freshman Morgan Kealy made her fourth double-double in her fourth game of her collegiate career with 30 assists and 18 digs.

Recap
The first set started back-and-forth, with Montana State taking the first big lead at 15-11. The Tommies continued to fight to fall back only two with a score of 18-16. This rally included a service ace from sophomore outside hitter Ellie Gustafson. In the end the Bobcats were able to keep the lead and finished the first set, 25-17.

The Tommies came out hot with a 6-0 to start the second set that included back-to-back kills from sophomore middle blocker Megan Wetter. With a strong comeback by the Bobcats to make the score tied at 19-19, the Tommies couldn't finish and lost 25-21.

The Tommies and Bobcats kept the third set close, going back-and-forth on points to get the score to 9-9. Two strong blocks each by Dammann and Claire Ricard helped the Tommies go on a run and get a 15-12 lead. Both teams continued to fight to get the score to 23-23. With two strong kills by Wetter, the Tommies were able to pull out the win 25-23.

The fourth set started close with a 5-5 score but two blocks by Dammann and Gustafson quickly put the Tommies up by two. The score stayed close with a 24-24 game to push the set to a fight to the finish. A strong kill by Dammann made the game 25-24 and forced the Bobcats to take a timeout. A block by Dammann and Kealy followed by another kill by Dammann would give the Tommies two more points but the Bobcats finished out the set on top 29-27.

Top Tommies

Dammann finished the day with eight kills and seven block assists to get her to lead the Tommies with 11.5 points. Two of her kills and one block came over the last few points of the game to push the Bobcats to extra points.
Kealy led the Tommies with 30 assists and totaled 18 digs to get her to her fourth double-double in a row.
Gustafson led the Tommies with nine kills as well as having 19 digs and two block assists.
Voegele finished the game with 23 digs to lead the Tommies and added seven assists.

Quoteables
Thoughts from Head Coach Thanh Pham following Thursday's match:
"First off, I'd like to thank the crowd who were amazing. Thank you to all the students who made it out to the game. I think that gave us a huge boost and there were so many students that we were a little nervous in that first set. Once we settled down, we showed we can compete with an undefeated and we battled them point for point. It didn't go our way tonight but, again, the girls keep improving every single day and that's all we can ask for."

"With one of our girls going down tonight, Ellie (Dammann) stepped up big time. I couldn't say enough good things about how both Ellie and Claire (Ricard), our two seniors, led the team tonight. They showed how to play with poise and skill."

Up Next
The Tommies continue their home stand at 7 p.m. Friday, September 1 in Schoenecker Arena. St. Thomas and California Baptist will face off as they continue in the St. Thomas invitational.

Follow Along
For more information on St. Thomas Volleyball, follow along on X 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 --

Team Stats

Ellie Gustafson

Ellie Dammann

Megan Wetter

Libby Mattila

Players Mentioned

Ellie Dammann

Ellie Gustafson

Claire Ricard

Megan Wetter