University of St. Thomas Athletics
Thursday, September 21
St. Paul, Minn.
7:00 p.m. Central
4-8,0-1Summit League
0
vs
3
South Dakota State
3-10,1-0Summit League
1
2
3
F
South Dakota St.
25
25
26
3
St. Thomas (MN)
16
23
24
0
Team Stats
SDSU
UST
Kills
44
44
Errors
12
20
Attempts
128
135
Hitting %
.250
.178
Points
53.0
49.0
Assists
41
40
Aces
2
1
Blocks
7
4
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
DS
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballOH/RS
/ VolleyballOH/RS
/ Volleyball
DS/L
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
Photo by: Kylie Macziewski
Tommies fall to Jackrabbits during Summit League Opener
9/21/2023 10:23:00 PM | Volleyball
Rudzitis totals team-high nine kills and .573 hit percentage
ST. PAUL, Minn. – In their 2023 Summit League Opener, St. Thomas volleyball suffered a 3-0 loss to South Dakota State (16-25, 23-25, 24-26) in Schoenecker Arena to start off conference play.
Recap
The Tommies and the Jackrabbits shared back-and-forth separation to begin the first set as both teams took three point leads early. After the Tommies took the lead 8-5, a string of kills by the Jackrabbit pin hitters and a few Tommie hitting errors allowed South Dakota State to pull ahead. The Tommies looked to push back with three consecutive kills led by freshman Morgan Kealy, but the deficit was too much.
St Thomas fell behind again in the second set 12-9 until two kills by sophomore Tezra Rudzitis and a service ace by sophomore Maria Chapman helped the Tommies take a 13-12 lead. Rudzitis continued to hit well in the set, leading the Tommies with five kills, but the Jackrabbits separated again in the end.
The Tommies had their biggest lead of the night with six points at 17-11 in the third set but were unable to take hold off the Jackrabbits who scored nine of the last 13 points to finish the match.
Top Tommies
· Sophomore Ella Voegele led the match in digs with 23 digs. She averaged 7.67 digs per set in the league opener after entering the match second in the league with 4.10 digs per set.
· Sophomores Kaitlynn Peterson and Tezra Rudzitis led the Tommies with nine kills while Tezra finished the match with a .563 hitting percentage. She totaled 16 attempts with no errors.
· Freshman Morgan Kealy lead the team in assists with 30 and tied with sophomore Megan Wetter in blocks with two.
Quoteables
Head Coach Thanh Pham on the overall takeaway from Thursday night's loss:
"In set two there were 14 times the score was tied. That just shows a lot of resilience from our team. We didn't come away with that (set) but in the third set there was only three times the score was tied and only one time there was a lead change, and we just happened to be on the wrong side of that."
Up Next
St. Thomas travels to North Dakota State for its first Summit League road trip of the season as it will take on the Bison at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse in Fargo, N.D.
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 --
Recap
The Tommies and the Jackrabbits shared back-and-forth separation to begin the first set as both teams took three point leads early. After the Tommies took the lead 8-5, a string of kills by the Jackrabbit pin hitters and a few Tommie hitting errors allowed South Dakota State to pull ahead. The Tommies looked to push back with three consecutive kills led by freshman Morgan Kealy, but the deficit was too much.
St Thomas fell behind again in the second set 12-9 until two kills by sophomore Tezra Rudzitis and a service ace by sophomore Maria Chapman helped the Tommies take a 13-12 lead. Rudzitis continued to hit well in the set, leading the Tommies with five kills, but the Jackrabbits separated again in the end.
The Tommies had their biggest lead of the night with six points at 17-11 in the third set but were unable to take hold off the Jackrabbits who scored nine of the last 13 points to finish the match.
Top Tommies
· Sophomore Ella Voegele led the match in digs with 23 digs. She averaged 7.67 digs per set in the league opener after entering the match second in the league with 4.10 digs per set.
· Sophomores Kaitlynn Peterson and Tezra Rudzitis led the Tommies with nine kills while Tezra finished the match with a .563 hitting percentage. She totaled 16 attempts with no errors.
· Freshman Morgan Kealy lead the team in assists with 30 and tied with sophomore Megan Wetter in blocks with two.
Quoteables
Head Coach Thanh Pham on the overall takeaway from Thursday night's loss:
"In set two there were 14 times the score was tied. That just shows a lot of resilience from our team. We didn't come away with that (set) but in the third set there was only three times the score was tied and only one time there was a lead change, and we just happened to be on the wrong side of that."
Up Next
St. Thomas travels to North Dakota State for its first Summit League road trip of the season as it will take on the Bison at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse in Fargo, N.D.
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 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
