University of St. Thomas Athletics
Thursday, September 14
Green Bay, Wis. / Kress Center
5:00 p.m. Central
vs
Central Michigan
Photo by: Kylie Macziewski
Purple close out non-conference play with two matches Sept. 13-14
9/13/2023 9:31:00 AM | Volleyball
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- St. Thomas volleyball travels to Green Bay Sept. 14-15 to compete in their final non-conference matches of the season at the Capital Credit Union Classic, hosted by Green Bay, at the Kriss Center.
St. Thomas begins its two-match tournament at 5 p.m. Thursday against Central Michigan and ends at 11 a.m. Friday against Illinois State.
Success in Chicago
St. Thomas played its second non-conference tournament in Chicago this season Sept. 8–9, where the Tommies squared up against Evansville, DePaul, and Northern Illinois at the DePaul Invitational.
During the opening match of the weekend, St. Thomas came away with a 3-0 win over Evansville (25-22, 25-18, 27-25) to earn their first match sweep of the season. After a back-and-forth first set where the Tommies came out on top, Megan Wetter helped the Tommies to four unanswered points, including three blocks assists and a kill to grab an early lead in the second. To end the second set, Tezra Rudzitis tallied six kills and a solo block. The Purple Aces kept it close in the third set with three straight points at the end but a kill from sophomore Ava Wild, a service ace by Wetter, and a solo block by Wild gave the Tommies their first sweep win of the season.
The Tommies were not able to overcome the hosts of the tournament and took a 3-0 loss (21-25, 20-25, 23-25) against DePaul. The Tommies took an early 5-2 lead with help from Wetter and Claire Ricard but after the Blue Demons took seven of the next eight points, the Tommies could not claw back. After a strong start by the Blue Demons in set two, sophomore Kaitlynn Peterson had multiple kills to keep the Tommies close, but DePaul prevailed. Peterson continued to perform with two kills and a block in the third set, but the Blue Demons closed out their match win with 12 of the final 18 points.
The Tommies played a five-set thriller against Northern Illinois to end the DePaul Invitational, taking the match with a 3-2 win (25-19, 19-25, 20-25, 25-22, 17-15), The Tommies took the first set with kills by Peterson and Wetter but quickly fell behind 2-1 to the Huskies. The Tommies and Huskies traded leads four times to start the fourth set, the final of which came on the back end of an 8-1 run to force the fifth set. St. Thomas fell behind 8-3 during the final set but were able to start a 7-2 run with kills by freshmen Ellie Gustafson and Morgan Kealy. The Huskies reached match point twice before an error by NIU set up back-to-back kills by Gustafson to seal the match.
A Career-High Kind of Day
Saturday's 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.
Two is Greater Than One
Volleyball placed two Tommies on the DePaul Invitational All-Tournament Team after finishing second. Kealy and Wetter were selected to represent St. Thomas on the all-tournament team after helping the squad to two wins.
Kealy is third in the Summit League with 289 total assists and fourth with 8.26 assists per set but leads all true freshmen in the league in both categories.
Wetter is tied for fourth in the conference with 30 total blocks, sixth with 0.97 blocks per set, eighth with 101 total points, 10th with 79 total kills, 11th with 3.20 points per set, tied for 12th hitting .250, and 13th with 2.55 kills per set. She's now hit for over .300 in three matches this season, including both wins at the DePaul Invitational.
Scouting Central Michigan
Central Michigan takes on St. Thomas with a 5-4 overall record after going 2-1 at the Hawkeye Invitational Sept. 8-10 in Iowa City, Iowa. CMU began its weekend with a 3-1 loss (17-25, 20-25, 25-18, 23-25) to host Iowa before two five-set wins against Grand Canyon (17-25, 24-26, 25-18, 26-24, 15-13) and Missouri State (25-23, 22-25, 18-25, 25-21, 15-13).
Junior Krystina Kasson and sophomore Claire Ammeraal were selected to the Hawkeye Invitational All-Tournament team. Ammeraal recorded the team's first triple-double of the season with 52 assists, 13 digs, and 11 kills against Missouri State. Kasson totaled 20 kills against Grand Canyon with a .633 hitting percentage and finished the weekend with 45 kills.
Scouting Illinois State
Illinois State enters the Capital Credit Union Classic with an 0-9 overall record after going 0-3 at the Redbird Classic Sept. 8-9 in Normal, Ill. ISU took a 3-0 loss to New Mexico State (17-25, 18-25, 16-25) before a 3-1 loss to Saint Louis (25-22, 25-23, 22-25, 13-25) and a 3-2 loss to Miami (OH) (25-17, 25-27, 25-23, 21-25, 13-15). Three of the Redbirds' set wins this season came during their home tournament.
Sophomore Aida Shadewald led the Redbirds on the weekend with 2.83 kills per set and 34 total, adding to 17 digs and five service aces. Grad student Mari Hinkle leads the team and ranks third in the MVC, 35th nationally, with 4.85 digs per set.
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 will face 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 at the Saint Louis Invitational.
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 is set to reach the 650-match mark on Friday, Sept. 29, a road match at North Dakota. He notched his 10th career NCAA Division I win Saturday 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.
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 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 begins its two-match tournament at 5 p.m. Thursday against Central Michigan and ends at 11 a.m. Friday against Illinois State.
Success in Chicago
St. Thomas played its second non-conference tournament in Chicago this season Sept. 8–9, where the Tommies squared up against Evansville, DePaul, and Northern Illinois at the DePaul Invitational.
During the opening match of the weekend, St. Thomas came away with a 3-0 win over Evansville (25-22, 25-18, 27-25) to earn their first match sweep of the season. After a back-and-forth first set where the Tommies came out on top, Megan Wetter helped the Tommies to four unanswered points, including three blocks assists and a kill to grab an early lead in the second. To end the second set, Tezra Rudzitis tallied six kills and a solo block. The Purple Aces kept it close in the third set with three straight points at the end but a kill from sophomore Ava Wild, a service ace by Wetter, and a solo block by Wild gave the Tommies their first sweep win of the season.
The Tommies were not able to overcome the hosts of the tournament and took a 3-0 loss (21-25, 20-25, 23-25) against DePaul. The Tommies took an early 5-2 lead with help from Wetter and Claire Ricard but after the Blue Demons took seven of the next eight points, the Tommies could not claw back. After a strong start by the Blue Demons in set two, sophomore Kaitlynn Peterson had multiple kills to keep the Tommies close, but DePaul prevailed. Peterson continued to perform with two kills and a block in the third set, but the Blue Demons closed out their match win with 12 of the final 18 points.
The Tommies played a five-set thriller against Northern Illinois to end the DePaul Invitational, taking the match with a 3-2 win (25-19, 19-25, 20-25, 25-22, 17-15), The Tommies took the first set with kills by Peterson and Wetter but quickly fell behind 2-1 to the Huskies. The Tommies and Huskies traded leads four times to start the fourth set, the final of which came on the back end of an 8-1 run to force the fifth set. St. Thomas fell behind 8-3 during the final set but were able to start a 7-2 run with kills by freshmen Ellie Gustafson and Morgan Kealy. The Huskies reached match point twice before an error by NIU set up back-to-back kills by Gustafson to seal the match.
A Career-High Kind of Day
Saturday's 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.
Two is Greater Than One
Volleyball placed two Tommies on the DePaul Invitational All-Tournament Team after finishing second. Kealy and Wetter were selected to represent St. Thomas on the all-tournament team after helping the squad to two wins.
Kealy is third in the Summit League with 289 total assists and fourth with 8.26 assists per set but leads all true freshmen in the league in both categories.
Wetter is tied for fourth in the conference with 30 total blocks, sixth with 0.97 blocks per set, eighth with 101 total points, 10th with 79 total kills, 11th with 3.20 points per set, tied for 12th hitting .250, and 13th with 2.55 kills per set. She's now hit for over .300 in three matches this season, including both wins at the DePaul Invitational.
Scouting Central Michigan
Central Michigan takes on St. Thomas with a 5-4 overall record after going 2-1 at the Hawkeye Invitational Sept. 8-10 in Iowa City, Iowa. CMU began its weekend with a 3-1 loss (17-25, 20-25, 25-18, 23-25) to host Iowa before two five-set wins against Grand Canyon (17-25, 24-26, 25-18, 26-24, 15-13) and Missouri State (25-23, 22-25, 18-25, 25-21, 15-13).
Junior Krystina Kasson and sophomore Claire Ammeraal were selected to the Hawkeye Invitational All-Tournament team. Ammeraal recorded the team's first triple-double of the season with 52 assists, 13 digs, and 11 kills against Missouri State. Kasson totaled 20 kills against Grand Canyon with a .633 hitting percentage and finished the weekend with 45 kills.
Scouting Illinois State
Illinois State enters the Capital Credit Union Classic with an 0-9 overall record after going 0-3 at the Redbird Classic Sept. 8-9 in Normal, Ill. ISU took a 3-0 loss to New Mexico State (17-25, 18-25, 16-25) before a 3-1 loss to Saint Louis (25-22, 25-23, 22-25, 13-25) and a 3-2 loss to Miami (OH) (25-17, 25-27, 25-23, 21-25, 13-15). Three of the Redbirds' set wins this season came during their home tournament.
Sophomore Aida Shadewald led the Redbirds on the weekend with 2.83 kills per set and 34 total, adding to 17 digs and five service aces. Grad student Mari Hinkle leads the team and ranks third in the MVC, 35th nationally, with 4.85 digs per set.
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 will face 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 at the Saint Louis Invitational.
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 is set to reach the 650-match mark on Friday, Sept. 29, a road match at North Dakota. He notched his 10th career NCAA Division I win Saturday 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.
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 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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