South Dakota State edges out St. Thomas in four-set loss

BROOKINGS, S.D. - St. Thomas put together one of its most balanced offensive outings of the season but came up just short Saturday, falling 3-1 (15-25, 25-27, 25-15, 23-25) at South Dakota State in Brookings, S.D.

The Tommies (10-6, 3-2 Summit League) hit .262 with four players reaching double-digit kills, highlighted by Anya Schmidt's 16 and Ellie Gustafson's 15, as both recorded double-doubles. Setter Morgan Kealy notched her ninth double-double of the season with 45 assists and 10 digs, while Megan Wetter and Tezra Rudzitis combined for 23 kills as St. Thomas pushed the Jackrabbits to the wire.

SCORING SUMMARY
Set One: Tezra Rudzitis put down an early kill to tie the set at 1-1 before South Dakota State surged ahead with a 6-1 run to build an 11-4 lead. Kills from Ellie Gustafson and Rudzitis briefly halted the momentum, but the Tommies were unable to string together consecutive points the rest of the way. Rudzitis finished the frame with four kills and Gustafson added three, as St. Thomas hit .188 while the Jackrabbits controlled the net with five blocks.

Set Two: St. Thomas found early rhythm behind two kills each from Rudzitis and Megan Wetter, plus service aces from Anya Schmidt and Ella Voegele, to build a 7-4 lead. The Tommies extended their advantage to 18-14 with a 4-0 run that included back-to-back kills by Gustafson and a block assist from Wetter and Morgan Kealy. Holding a 23-19 edge late, St. Thomas was unable to close it out as South Dakota State rallied with six of the final seven points to take the set. The Tommies hit an efficient .344 with three aces, but the Jackrabbits countered at .424 and added three more blocks to go up 2-0 in the match.

Set Three: The Tommies came out firing with a 9-3 start, fueled by four kills from Schmidt and one each from Addie Schmotzer and Wetter. After the Jackrabbits trimmed the margin to three, St. Thomas pushed the lead back to 15-8 with a 4-0 run capped by back-to-back service aces from Kealy. The Tommies closed strong, scoring nine of the final 13 points behind three Wetter kills, two more aces from Schmidt, and a Gustafson finish to seal the set. St. Thomas hit a sharp .400 with four aces, while holding SDSU to .115 hitting and just eight kills.

Set Four: In a tightly contested frame that featured 15 ties and six lead changes, neither team led by more than two until the midpoint of the set. Wetter and Schmidt combined for St. Thomas' first five kills, followed by back-to-back finishes from Gustafson to keep pace. A Jackrabbit service error jump-started a 5-0 Tommie run, highlighted by two Kealy aces, to give St. Thomas an 18-15 lead, its largest of the set. St. Thomas held a 19-16 advantage before South Dakota State answered with a 7-2 surge to move ahead 23-21 and held off the Tommies late for a 25-23 win to close the match.

TOMMIE TIDBITS

St. Thomas fell in back-to-back matches for the first time since the opening weekend of the season, a span of 12 matches. The Tommies hit .262 from the floor with 74 total points, their second highest of the season, compared to .324 for the Jackrabbits, the most given up by the Purple during Summit League play and the second-most this season.
Morgan Kealy recorded her 36th career double-double and ninth of the season with a match-high 45 assists and 10 digs. She totaled her third most assists of the season while she also tied a career high of four service aces.
Ella Voegele averaged 5.00 digs per set with 20 over the four-set match. She neared her first career double-double as she tied a career high nine assists.
Four Tommies recorded at least 10 kills, led by Anya Schmidt with 16 on a .216 hitting percentage and Ellie Gustafson with 15 on a .406 hitting percentage. Both Gustafson and Schmidt recorded double-doubles with 10 digs each. Schmidt, the Summit League's leader in aces, added three to her total.
Megan Wetter finished with 12 kills and a team high four blocks to finish with 14.5 points. Tezra Rudzitis totaled 11 kills on a .385 percentage, hitting just one error.

QUOTEABLES
Head Coach Thanh Pham's thoughts following the team's loss at South Dakota State
"I'm proud of our effort and commitment to the process. SDSU is the defending champion for several reasons, but we also had our chances. This road trip will help our team evolve to what is to come."

UP NEXT
St. Thomas returns home for two matches Oct. 16 and 18 against North Dakota and North Dakota State. The Tommies play the Fighting Hawks at 7 p.m. Thursday before the Bison at 12 p.m. Saturday.

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-- St. Thomas Athletics --

South Dakota State edges out St. Thomas in four-set loss

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Team Stats

Anya Schmidt

Ellie Gustafson

Megan Wetter

Tezra Rudzitis

Players Mentioned

Ellie Gustafson

Morgan Kealy

Tezra Rudzitis

Anya Schmidt

Addie Schmotzer

Ella Voegele

Megan Wetter

University of St. Thomas Athletics