Pham captures 500th career win, 3-0, over North Dakota State

ST. PAUL, Minn. - St. Thomas volleyball put together one of its strongest showings of the Summit League season Saturday to help Head Coach Thanh Pham to his 500th career win, coming as a 3-0 sweep (25-15, 25-20, 25-20) over North Dakota State in Schoenecker Arena. The Tommies hit .357 overall from the floor compared to just .150 for the Bison as the Purple recorded six total blocks.

SCORING SUMMARY
Set One: St. Thomas took an early 2-1 lead behind kills from Anya Schmidt and Megan Wetter before seizing full control with a 12-3 run to go up 14-5. Wetter contributed two kills, an ace, and a block assist with Morgan Kealy during the surge, while Schmidt added a kill and ace. The Tommies extended their advantage to double digits at 17-7 on a 3-0 spurt featuring kills from Tezra Rudzitis and Addie Schmotzer, followed by a block assist from the pair. Schmotzer's third kill of the frame helped spark a 3-1 finishing run capped by an Ellie Gustafson kill as St. Thomas hit a blistering .419 with just two attack errors while holding the Bison to a .000 hitting percentage.

Set Two: The Tommies capitalized on a pair of early Bison errors to take a 2-0 lead and extended their advantage to 8-4 behind kills from Kealy, Gustafson, and Rudzitis. St. Thomas maintained control throughout, using a 7-3 run fueled by back-to-back aces from Schmidt and three Gustafson kills to go up 19-12. The Tommies kept NDSU at bay the rest of the way, with Gustafson capping the frame with a kill and combining with Schmotzer on a block assist to close out the 25-20 win. Both teams hit above .300 in the set, while St. Thomas added three service aces to take a 2-0 match lead.

Set Three: North Dakota State grabbed an early 2-0 lead before St. Thomas responded with a 4-1 run to take control for good. The Tommies extended the margin to 9-4 on a 4-0 burst featuring kills from Kealy, Schmidt, and Wetter, an ace by Schmidt, and a solo block from Kealy. A late 4-1 run widened the lead to a set-high six points at 21-15, and Rudzitis sealed the sweep with back-to-back kills. St. Thomas hit .310 in the frame while forcing nine Bison attack errors to hold them to a .111 hitting percentage and complete the 3-0 victory.

TOMMIE TIDBITS

Head Coach Thanh Pham won his 500th career match during his 708th game with St. Thomas. He ranks 10th among all active head coaches in NCAA Division I in winning percentage among coaches with at least 500 career wins. Pham's first career came as a 3-1 decision over Puget Sound during his first-ever match with the Purple.
St. Thomas hit .357 with 7 service aces, 6 blocks and just 10 attack errors while NDSU finished hitting .150 with 19 attack errors and just 2 blocks.
Senior Tezra Rudzitis and junior Ellie Gustafson led the Tommies with 11 kills as Rudzitis hit .529 and Gustafson hit .333.
Senior Megan Wetter hit a team-best .571 from the floor with 9 kills and 3 total blocks while junior Morgan Keally tallied 33 assists and 9 digs. Senior Ella Voegele led the team with 10 digs as senior Allie Kopp added 9 digs.

QUOTEABLES
Head Coach Thanh Pham's thoughts following the team's sweep and his 500th career win:
"The team really locked in. Last year, they got us twice. I think the girls really wanted to focus and play well. Both North Dakotas are tough and I thought our serving was the differentiating point and our girls' energy, how hard they were swinging and the way they were playing defense. I was really proud of them."

UP NEXT
St. Thomas hits the road for a Tuesday/Thursday series at Denver and Omaha. The Tommies begin the mid-week trip Oct. 21 at the Pioneers before traveling Oct. 23 to face the Mavericks.

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-- St. Thomas Athletics --

Pham captures 500th career win, 3-0, over North Dakota State

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Team Stats

Tezra Rudzitis

Ellie Gustafson

Megan Wetter

Addie Schmotzer

Players Mentioned

Ellie Gustafson

Morgan Kealy

Allie Kopp

Tezra Rudzitis

Anya Schmidt

Addie Schmotzer

Ella Voegele

Megan Wetter

University of St. Thomas Athletics