University of St. Thomas Athletics
Tuesday, November 18
St. Paul, Minn.
7:00 p.m. CT
vs
Oral Roberts
Photo by: Kylie Macziewski
Regular season ends Tuesday as Volleyball recognizes nine seniors
11/17/2025 2:08:00 PM | Volleyball
St. Thomas going for season sweep of Oral Roberts at 7 p.m. Nov. 18
ST. PAUL, Minn. – St. Thomas volleyball makes its final appearance of the regular season Tuesday, Nov. 18 as it hosts Oral Roberts at Schoenecker Arena. The Tommies and Golden Eagles start at 7 p.m. with a recognition of its nine seniors following the conclusion of the match.
Live Media
Live Stats: vs Oral Roberts
Stream/Live Video: Summit League Network
Series History
St. Thomas and Oral Roberts have played nine times since the Tommies joined the Summit League in2021 as the first five matches went to the Golden Eagles. The Purple have since earned 3-1 wins over ORU in each of the past four meetings, dating back to Nov. 12, 2023, with two wins coming in St. Paul. The most recent win in the series came Oct. 2 in Tulsa, Okla., 23-25, 25-21, 25-15, 25-11. The Tommies hit .306 from the floor with 17 aces compared to .193 hitting for the Golden Eagles.
Freshman Anya Schmidt recorded the best serving performance of the program's Division I era with 10 aces, adding 10 kills for St. Thomas' first double-double outside of assists since 2021. Senior Tezra Rudzitis led the Tommies with 15 kills on a .480 hitting percentage while junior Ellie Gustafson followed with 12 kills and 10 digs, one of her six double-doubles of the season. Junior Morgan Kealy was one dig shy of a double-double with 46 assists while senior Ella Voegele led with 14 digs.
Break Down the Scenarios
With UST's spot in the 2025 Summit League Volleyball Tournament secured during its first season of eligibility, the final match of the season along with North Dakota State against South Dakota will decide the final seeding with four possible outcomes:
1. Clear Separation (UST beats ORU; USD beats NDSU)
- No. 3 Seed: St. Thomas: (11-5 Summit League)
- No. 4 Seed: North Dakota State (10-6 Summit League)
2. Three-Way Tie for 2-4 (UST beats ORU; NDSU beats USD)
- Tiebreaker: Combined record among tied teams
- No. 2 Seed: South Dakota (3-1 vs. UST/NDSU)
- No. 3 Seed: North Dakota State (2-2 vs. UST/USD)
- No. 4 Seed: St. Thomas (1-3 vs. USD/NDSU)
3. Two-Way Tie for 3-4 (UST loses to ORU; USD beats NDSU)
- Tiebreaker 1: Head-to-head - Split
- Tiebreaker 2: Record vs. highest-seeded common opponent (working downward)
- Both teams lost to No. 1 SDSU and No. 2 USD (Decision comes from results vs. Denver)
- No. 3 Seed: St. Thomas (2-0 vs. Denver)
- No. 4 Seed: North Dakota State (1-1 vs. Denver)
4. Two-Way Tie for 2-3 (UST loses to ORU; NDSU beats USD)
- Tiebreaker 1: Head-to-head - Split
- Tiebreaker 2: Record vs. highest-seeded common opponent (working downward)
- Both teams lost to SDSU and split with each other (Decision comes from results vs. St. Thomas)
- No. 2 Seed: South Dakota (Swept St. Thomas)
- No. 3 Seed: North Dakota State (Split with St. Thomas)
- No. 4 Seed: St. Thomas (10-6 Summit League)
A Class of Their Own
Schoenecker Arena says goodbye to nine of its own over the past four seasons, the winningest class in the program's short DI history. The class includes Maria Chapman (Woodbury, Minn.), Emma Goerger (Plymouth, Minn.), Keya Luta Win Hunt (Minneapolis, Minn.), Allie Kopp (Champlin, Minn.), Kaitlynn Peterson (Lakeville, Minn.), Tezra Rudzitis (Anoka, Minn.), Ella Voegele (Plymouth, Minn.), Megan Wetter (Monticello, Minn.) and Ava Wild (Fargo, N.D.). It is the only senior class in the country that includes nine seniors with seven being a part of the program for four seasons. The class has totaled 46 wins over its past four seasons, including a DI-program-best 18 wins in 2024. The 2025 graduating class has the opportunity to break that record with a minimum of two matches remaining this season, including the 2025 Summit League Tournament starting Nov. 23.
Four seniors have combined for five Division I career records for the program including aces (Allie Kopp, 121), hitting percentage (Megan Wetter, .287), kills (Tezra Rudzitis, 1023), digs (Ella Voegele, 1729), and blocks (Megan Wetter, 253).
Two of a (1)Kind
Tezra Rudzitis became just the second Tommie of the Division I era to reach 1,000 career kills as she hit the milestone Nov. 13 at North Dakota State. She is currently tied with Lauren Galvin (2021-24) for the program's most career kills during the DI era with 1,023 and trails Galvin (333, 2024; 331, 2022) for the most single-season kills of the DI era with 327.
Four or Less
All 15 of St. Thomas' Summit League matches and 25 of 26 total matches have been decided in four or fewer sets, including 11 Summit League matches coming down to four sets. The Tommies' past four matches were all 3-1 finals, including St. Thomas wins over Denver at home and North Dakota on the road to secure season sweeps. The four sweeps involving St. Thomas came within 14 days of each other, first taking down North Dakota State on Oct. 18 (25-15, 25-20, 25-20) before another sweep Oct. 23 at Omaha (25-18, 25-18, 25-18) and a 3-0 win (25-17, 25-16, 25-18) Nov. 1 at Kansas City. The Tommies were on the wrong end of a sweep for just the third time this season against South Dakota at home (21-25, 26-28, 22-25).
Make It Four Offensive
Senior Tezra Rudzitis collected her second Summit League Kwik Star Offensive Peak Performer of the Week honor of the season on Nov. 4. Rudzitis, who won the league's first offensive performer of the week honor of 2025, did it again as she averaged a league-high 4.92 kills per set over a 1-1 week against South Dakota and Kansas City. She hit .434 from the floor and totaled 4.92 points per set, second best in the Summit League over the weekend.
The Tommies have now won the weekly offensive award four times this season, joined by senior Megan Wetter and junior Morgan Kealy, and six times since 2023. It's the first season since joining the Summit League that the program has had four offensive performers of the week, recording four total performers of the week last season (two offensive and two defensive).
Ranking Top 50 Nationally
St. Thomas continued to build on its national-ranking stats heading into the final match of the regular season. The Tommies are fifth in aces per set (2.14), eighth in kills per set (14.27), 13th in assists per set (13.17), 29th in attacks per set (37.01) and 70th in hitting percentage (.247). Within the league, St. Thomas ranks first in points per set (17.97), assists per set, kills per set and aces per set, and is second in hitting percentage. Individually, Morgan Kealy ranks 34th in the country with 10.13 assists per set while Tezra Rudzitis is 166th nationally with 3.44 kills per set.
Reaching New Highs (Lows)
Following the team's four-match winning streak, St. Thomas moved to an in-season program best RPI ranking of 69 before currently landing at 82 after a split weekend. The Tommies were ranked 85 during the first RPI rankings of the season on Oct. 5, 2025 before falling four spots after losses to South Dakota (RPI: 81) and South Dakota State (RPI: 25) and now ranking third among all Summit League teams.
Going Triple-Double
Morgan Kealy recorded the program's first triple-double of the Division I era Oct. 23 at Omaha, putting up 41 assists, 12 digs and a career-high 11 kills. It marked her 38th career double-double, her seventh match of the season with at least 40 assists, and 11 match of 2025 with at least 10 digs. She hit a season-high .579 on 19 attempts, setting up her week total of 15 kills on a .539 hitting percentage with no errors on 28 total attacks. Kealy led the Summit League last week in hitting percentage and assists per set and added three aces at Omaha.
Ace Ace Baby
Freshman Anya Schmidt's hot run at the service line has lifted her to rank eighth nationally in aces per set with 0.58 and eighth in total aces with 55. She has at least one ace in 19 matches this season and tied the Summit League four-set single-match record with 10 aces, shattering her previous DI program single-match record of 7, on Oct. 2 at Oral Roberts. It's also tied for the most aces in any match in NCAA DI this season. Schmidt added 10 kills with the 10 aces, marking the program's first double-double outside of kills/digs during the DI era. Three Tommies previously totaled five service aces between 2022 and 2024 while Schmidt now has four matches with at least five service aces over the past eight matches. Senior Allie Kopp is right behind Schmidt in service aces with 0.43 per set, ranking 48th nationally, as the duo is first and third in the Summit League.
Digging Her Way Up
Senior libero Ella Voegele continues to rack up the digs and is ranked ninth among all active NCAA DI athletes and 37th among active athletes in all divisions for total digs, entering the week with 1,729. In addition, she ranks 12th among all DI athletes in career digs per set with 4.29. She began her career at UNC-Greensboro with 454 digs as a freshman before following up with 432 as a sophomore at St. Thomas and a single-season best 506 as a junior. Her 2023 and 2024 season performances are the best for the program since joining DI in 2021, surpassing Carrie Rutledge's marks in 2021 (310) and 2022 (338). Through 2025, Voegele ranks fifth in total digs (337) and sixth in digs per set (3.55).
500 Wins with the Purple and Gray
Head Coach Thanh Pham is became the 28th active NCAA Division I head coach to reach 500 career wins, doing so following a 2-0 week Oct. 16 and 18 against North Dakota and North Dakota State. He ranks 10th among active DI head coaches in winning percentage among coaches with at least 500 wins. Pham's first career win came as a 3-1 decision over Puget Sound during his first-ever match with the Purple. He also surpasses 700 career matches coached on Sept. 13, a 3-1 win over Stony Brook to extend the team's winning streak to six. Pham became one of 23 active head coach among all of NCAA with at least 700 matches coached and a .700 winning percentage at one program. Coach Pham is the longest tenured head coach within the Summit League, the next longest tenured being Kansas City's Kristi Posey whose first season was 2011.
2.5K(ealy) Assists
Junior setter Morgan Kealy continues to direct the Tommie offense as she surpassed 2,000 career assists during the sweep over Northwestern and topped 2,500 Nov. 6 during a 3-1 win over Denver. She is second in the Summit League with 890 total assists and 10.13 assists per set this season. She is 50th among active DI athletes and second among all Summit League setters in active career assists (2,650), trailing only Avery Van Hook from South Dakota (3,182).
All-Around Power
Of the top 12 individuals among the league in kills per set, two programs have multiple athletes on the list. While Omaha has two among the top 12, St. Thomas features four athletes including Tezra Rudzitis (5th/3.44), Anya Schmidt (10th/2.93), Megan Wetter (11th/2.83) and Ellie Gustafson (12th/2.71). Since 2021, St. Thomas has not had three athletes average 2.65 kills per set or better during the same season.
Ready to Dance
With the transition in the rear-view mirror, St. Thomas is beginning its first season as a postseason-tournament-eligible program within NCAA Division I. That includes the Summit League tournament, in which the Tommies were not able to participate over the four-season transition period. Initially a five-year transition period, the NCAA Division I Council voted in January in favor of a reduction to the department's provisional period from five to four years. The NCAA later announced in June that St. Thomas had completed its reclassification process and is fully eligible to compete in postseason play, including the Summit League Tournament hosted Nov. 23-25 in Brookings, S.D.
100 Stuffs
Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Addie Schmotzer took 37 matches to reach 100 career blocks with the Tommies, recording stuff number 100 on her second block of the sweep at Northwestern on Sept. 18. She totaled 82 during her redshirt freshman campaign, while her 21 career solo blocks (13 in 2024) rank tied for second for the program during the DI era, trailing only Megan Wetter with 38. Schmotzer is 23rd in the league with 27 total blocks and 25th with 0.52 blocks per set.
Another First to Start the Summit
The Tommies began the Summit League schedule with three straight wins, the first time going 3-0 to start league play since joining in 2021. St. Thomas pulled off a win during its first ever home Summit League match, a five-set victory over North Dakota on Sept. 30, 2021, but had gone 0-8 during conference-opening weekends until this season. The Purple began this conference schedule with four-set wins over Kansas City, Omaha and Oral Roberts, the program's third straight win over UMKC, the first ever win over UNO and the fourth straight over ORU.
Ellie Gustafson and Morgan Kealy each recorded two double-doubles over the first three league matches. Gustafson most recently posted 12 kills, three behind Tezra Rudzitis with a team-high 15 hitting .480, and 10 digs on Oct. 2 during the win over Oral Roberts. Anya Schmidt set career highs against UNO with 26.0 points, 19 kills and 7 service aces, setting then later breaking the DI program record in aces. Her 19 kills rank fourth by a freshman and tied for eighth overall by a Tommie in a match during the DI era.
Another B1G Win
St. Thomas came away with the program's second win against a Power Four school all-time as it swept Northwestern (25-15, 25-17, 25-20) in Evanston, Ill., to begin the Northwestern Invitational, handing the Wildcats just their second loss of the season. It was the first sweep NU had allowed over a 15-match span. Senior Tezra Rudzitis and freshman Anya Schmidt were named to the All-Tournament Team while senior Megan Wetter totaled 17 kills on a .517 hitting percentage against Northwestern. St. Thomas' first Power Four win came a season ago over Iowa, 3-1 (25-19, 25-23, 24-26, 25-19), at the Panther Invitational in Milwaukee, Wis.
Dominating Non-Conference Play
St. Thomas won seven straight matches following its sweep over the Big Ten's Northwestern (25-15, 25-17, 25-20), marking its longest winning streak since joining Division I in 2021. The Tommies won their second straight tournament title with three all-tournament team selections in both tournaments, including both tournament MVPs in Ellie Gustafson (Molly Howard-Gerwig Memorial Invitational) and Ella Voegele (Bryant Invitational). After going 7-29 through the program's first 13 non-conference tournaments of the DI era, the Tommies have now gone 15-4 through the previous seven tournaments dating back to Sept. 5, 2024. During that span, St. Thomas has gone 15-1 through six of those tournaments with the majority of the losses coming at the Golden Gopher Invitational to start this season.
Season-Opening Double-Digit Kill Streak
Junior outside hitter Ellie Gustafson opened the 2025 campaign with six straight double-digit kill performances, becoming the first Tommie to do so since Taylor Lewis in 2016 (11 straight). The streak, which came to an end to start the Bryant Invitational, was also the longest of the Division I era, surpassing Lauren Galvin's three-match run to begin 2023. Gustafson is second on the team with 2.97 kills per set (98 kills). She posted a season-high 16 kills against Ball State, added two 14-kill outings, and recorded 10 kills in three additional matches to begin the season.
Veteran Leadership
Head Coach Thanh Pham enters his 23rd season leading St. Thomas, the longest-tenured head coach in the Summit League. He coached his 700th match on Sept. 13, a 3-1 win over Stony Brook to close the Bryant Invitational as tournament champions. Pham's culture and patience paid off during the final season of transition as the Tommies put together their most successful Division I campaign. The Purple finished 18-12 overall, becoming just the sixth transitioning program since 2011 to reach at least 18 wins and the first since 2018.
With the exit of 2012 St. Thomas Hall of Fame top assistant coach Joy Tietz, Pham added Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Jackie Richter, a Minnesota prep coaching legend, as the next top assistant. Richter most recently served as the head coach at Lakeville North High School where she won the 2017 Minnesota State Championship during four state tournament appearances. She was twice named Minnesota State Coach of the Year (2017, 2022) and was a Minnesota Sports Awards Coach of the Year finalist (2018).
Taking 1 from No. 11
St. Thomas battled No. 11 Minnesota to four sets in a 3-1 loss, marking the program's first-ever set victory against a nationally ranked opponent. Rudzitis tied her career high with 18 kills on .263 hitting, capping a weekend that earned her Golden Gopher Invitational All-Tournament Team honors. Freshman outside Anya Schmidt posted her first career double-double with 12 kills and 12 digs, while junior Ellie Gustafson recorded her third straight double-digit kill match to open the season.
High Preseason Praise
After finishing third in the Summit League standings a season ago, the Tommies were picked to finish third in the 2025 Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll. It's the highest preseason selection since joining the league in 2021. St. Thomas totaled 48 points behind South Dakota State with 62 points and 6 first-place votes and South Dakota with 57 points and 3 first-place votes. Setter Morgan Kealy and middle blocker Megan Wetter were named the program's Players to Watch.
Loaded on the Upper End
What Tommie Volleyball lacked to start the Division I era has now become a strength of the team: 14 of the team's 21 athletes are upperclassmen. Among the upperclassmen, nine are seniors with seven being a part of the program over each of the past four seasons. Kaitlynn Peterson and Ella Voegele transferred into the program before the 2023 season. Of the nine seniors on the roster, all but one call the state of Minnesota home as the eight are from within 45 miles of the St. Thomas campus.
Summit League Network
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.
Follow Along
For more information on St. Thomas Volleyball, follow along on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram at @tommievball. Tommie Athletics is now available on TikTok at @TommieSports.
Join Us
To reserve your seat to be a part of the Tommies' 2025 season, click HERE to view ticketing information and purchase options.
-- St. Thomas Athletics --
Live Media
Live Stats: vs Oral Roberts
Stream/Live Video: Summit League Network
Series History
St. Thomas and Oral Roberts have played nine times since the Tommies joined the Summit League in2021 as the first five matches went to the Golden Eagles. The Purple have since earned 3-1 wins over ORU in each of the past four meetings, dating back to Nov. 12, 2023, with two wins coming in St. Paul. The most recent win in the series came Oct. 2 in Tulsa, Okla., 23-25, 25-21, 25-15, 25-11. The Tommies hit .306 from the floor with 17 aces compared to .193 hitting for the Golden Eagles.
Freshman Anya Schmidt recorded the best serving performance of the program's Division I era with 10 aces, adding 10 kills for St. Thomas' first double-double outside of assists since 2021. Senior Tezra Rudzitis led the Tommies with 15 kills on a .480 hitting percentage while junior Ellie Gustafson followed with 12 kills and 10 digs, one of her six double-doubles of the season. Junior Morgan Kealy was one dig shy of a double-double with 46 assists while senior Ella Voegele led with 14 digs.
Break Down the Scenarios
With UST's spot in the 2025 Summit League Volleyball Tournament secured during its first season of eligibility, the final match of the season along with North Dakota State against South Dakota will decide the final seeding with four possible outcomes:
1. Clear Separation (UST beats ORU; USD beats NDSU)
- No. 3 Seed: St. Thomas: (11-5 Summit League)
- No. 4 Seed: North Dakota State (10-6 Summit League)
2. Three-Way Tie for 2-4 (UST beats ORU; NDSU beats USD)
- Tiebreaker: Combined record among tied teams
- No. 2 Seed: South Dakota (3-1 vs. UST/NDSU)
- No. 3 Seed: North Dakota State (2-2 vs. UST/USD)
- No. 4 Seed: St. Thomas (1-3 vs. USD/NDSU)
3. Two-Way Tie for 3-4 (UST loses to ORU; USD beats NDSU)
- Tiebreaker 1: Head-to-head - Split
- Tiebreaker 2: Record vs. highest-seeded common opponent (working downward)
- Both teams lost to No. 1 SDSU and No. 2 USD (Decision comes from results vs. Denver)
- No. 3 Seed: St. Thomas (2-0 vs. Denver)
- No. 4 Seed: North Dakota State (1-1 vs. Denver)
4. Two-Way Tie for 2-3 (UST loses to ORU; NDSU beats USD)
- Tiebreaker 1: Head-to-head - Split
- Tiebreaker 2: Record vs. highest-seeded common opponent (working downward)
- Both teams lost to SDSU and split with each other (Decision comes from results vs. St. Thomas)
- No. 2 Seed: South Dakota (Swept St. Thomas)
- No. 3 Seed: North Dakota State (Split with St. Thomas)
- No. 4 Seed: St. Thomas (10-6 Summit League)
A Class of Their Own
Schoenecker Arena says goodbye to nine of its own over the past four seasons, the winningest class in the program's short DI history. The class includes Maria Chapman (Woodbury, Minn.), Emma Goerger (Plymouth, Minn.), Keya Luta Win Hunt (Minneapolis, Minn.), Allie Kopp (Champlin, Minn.), Kaitlynn Peterson (Lakeville, Minn.), Tezra Rudzitis (Anoka, Minn.), Ella Voegele (Plymouth, Minn.), Megan Wetter (Monticello, Minn.) and Ava Wild (Fargo, N.D.). It is the only senior class in the country that includes nine seniors with seven being a part of the program for four seasons. The class has totaled 46 wins over its past four seasons, including a DI-program-best 18 wins in 2024. The 2025 graduating class has the opportunity to break that record with a minimum of two matches remaining this season, including the 2025 Summit League Tournament starting Nov. 23.
Four seniors have combined for five Division I career records for the program including aces (Allie Kopp, 121), hitting percentage (Megan Wetter, .287), kills (Tezra Rudzitis, 1023), digs (Ella Voegele, 1729), and blocks (Megan Wetter, 253).
Two of a (1)Kind
Tezra Rudzitis became just the second Tommie of the Division I era to reach 1,000 career kills as she hit the milestone Nov. 13 at North Dakota State. She is currently tied with Lauren Galvin (2021-24) for the program's most career kills during the DI era with 1,023 and trails Galvin (333, 2024; 331, 2022) for the most single-season kills of the DI era with 327.
Four or Less
All 15 of St. Thomas' Summit League matches and 25 of 26 total matches have been decided in four or fewer sets, including 11 Summit League matches coming down to four sets. The Tommies' past four matches were all 3-1 finals, including St. Thomas wins over Denver at home and North Dakota on the road to secure season sweeps. The four sweeps involving St. Thomas came within 14 days of each other, first taking down North Dakota State on Oct. 18 (25-15, 25-20, 25-20) before another sweep Oct. 23 at Omaha (25-18, 25-18, 25-18) and a 3-0 win (25-17, 25-16, 25-18) Nov. 1 at Kansas City. The Tommies were on the wrong end of a sweep for just the third time this season against South Dakota at home (21-25, 26-28, 22-25).
Make It Four Offensive
Senior Tezra Rudzitis collected her second Summit League Kwik Star Offensive Peak Performer of the Week honor of the season on Nov. 4. Rudzitis, who won the league's first offensive performer of the week honor of 2025, did it again as she averaged a league-high 4.92 kills per set over a 1-1 week against South Dakota and Kansas City. She hit .434 from the floor and totaled 4.92 points per set, second best in the Summit League over the weekend.
The Tommies have now won the weekly offensive award four times this season, joined by senior Megan Wetter and junior Morgan Kealy, and six times since 2023. It's the first season since joining the Summit League that the program has had four offensive performers of the week, recording four total performers of the week last season (two offensive and two defensive).
Ranking Top 50 Nationally
St. Thomas continued to build on its national-ranking stats heading into the final match of the regular season. The Tommies are fifth in aces per set (2.14), eighth in kills per set (14.27), 13th in assists per set (13.17), 29th in attacks per set (37.01) and 70th in hitting percentage (.247). Within the league, St. Thomas ranks first in points per set (17.97), assists per set, kills per set and aces per set, and is second in hitting percentage. Individually, Morgan Kealy ranks 34th in the country with 10.13 assists per set while Tezra Rudzitis is 166th nationally with 3.44 kills per set.
Reaching New Highs (Lows)
Following the team's four-match winning streak, St. Thomas moved to an in-season program best RPI ranking of 69 before currently landing at 82 after a split weekend. The Tommies were ranked 85 during the first RPI rankings of the season on Oct. 5, 2025 before falling four spots after losses to South Dakota (RPI: 81) and South Dakota State (RPI: 25) and now ranking third among all Summit League teams.
Going Triple-Double
Morgan Kealy recorded the program's first triple-double of the Division I era Oct. 23 at Omaha, putting up 41 assists, 12 digs and a career-high 11 kills. It marked her 38th career double-double, her seventh match of the season with at least 40 assists, and 11 match of 2025 with at least 10 digs. She hit a season-high .579 on 19 attempts, setting up her week total of 15 kills on a .539 hitting percentage with no errors on 28 total attacks. Kealy led the Summit League last week in hitting percentage and assists per set and added three aces at Omaha.
Ace Ace Baby
Freshman Anya Schmidt's hot run at the service line has lifted her to rank eighth nationally in aces per set with 0.58 and eighth in total aces with 55. She has at least one ace in 19 matches this season and tied the Summit League four-set single-match record with 10 aces, shattering her previous DI program single-match record of 7, on Oct. 2 at Oral Roberts. It's also tied for the most aces in any match in NCAA DI this season. Schmidt added 10 kills with the 10 aces, marking the program's first double-double outside of kills/digs during the DI era. Three Tommies previously totaled five service aces between 2022 and 2024 while Schmidt now has four matches with at least five service aces over the past eight matches. Senior Allie Kopp is right behind Schmidt in service aces with 0.43 per set, ranking 48th nationally, as the duo is first and third in the Summit League.
Digging Her Way Up
Senior libero Ella Voegele continues to rack up the digs and is ranked ninth among all active NCAA DI athletes and 37th among active athletes in all divisions for total digs, entering the week with 1,729. In addition, she ranks 12th among all DI athletes in career digs per set with 4.29. She began her career at UNC-Greensboro with 454 digs as a freshman before following up with 432 as a sophomore at St. Thomas and a single-season best 506 as a junior. Her 2023 and 2024 season performances are the best for the program since joining DI in 2021, surpassing Carrie Rutledge's marks in 2021 (310) and 2022 (338). Through 2025, Voegele ranks fifth in total digs (337) and sixth in digs per set (3.55).
500 Wins with the Purple and Gray
Head Coach Thanh Pham is became the 28th active NCAA Division I head coach to reach 500 career wins, doing so following a 2-0 week Oct. 16 and 18 against North Dakota and North Dakota State. He ranks 10th among active DI head coaches in winning percentage among coaches with at least 500 wins. Pham's first career win came as a 3-1 decision over Puget Sound during his first-ever match with the Purple. He also surpasses 700 career matches coached on Sept. 13, a 3-1 win over Stony Brook to extend the team's winning streak to six. Pham became one of 23 active head coach among all of NCAA with at least 700 matches coached and a .700 winning percentage at one program. Coach Pham is the longest tenured head coach within the Summit League, the next longest tenured being Kansas City's Kristi Posey whose first season was 2011.
2.5K(ealy) Assists
Junior setter Morgan Kealy continues to direct the Tommie offense as she surpassed 2,000 career assists during the sweep over Northwestern and topped 2,500 Nov. 6 during a 3-1 win over Denver. She is second in the Summit League with 890 total assists and 10.13 assists per set this season. She is 50th among active DI athletes and second among all Summit League setters in active career assists (2,650), trailing only Avery Van Hook from South Dakota (3,182).
All-Around Power
Of the top 12 individuals among the league in kills per set, two programs have multiple athletes on the list. While Omaha has two among the top 12, St. Thomas features four athletes including Tezra Rudzitis (5th/3.44), Anya Schmidt (10th/2.93), Megan Wetter (11th/2.83) and Ellie Gustafson (12th/2.71). Since 2021, St. Thomas has not had three athletes average 2.65 kills per set or better during the same season.
Ready to Dance
With the transition in the rear-view mirror, St. Thomas is beginning its first season as a postseason-tournament-eligible program within NCAA Division I. That includes the Summit League tournament, in which the Tommies were not able to participate over the four-season transition period. Initially a five-year transition period, the NCAA Division I Council voted in January in favor of a reduction to the department's provisional period from five to four years. The NCAA later announced in June that St. Thomas had completed its reclassification process and is fully eligible to compete in postseason play, including the Summit League Tournament hosted Nov. 23-25 in Brookings, S.D.
100 Stuffs
Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Addie Schmotzer took 37 matches to reach 100 career blocks with the Tommies, recording stuff number 100 on her second block of the sweep at Northwestern on Sept. 18. She totaled 82 during her redshirt freshman campaign, while her 21 career solo blocks (13 in 2024) rank tied for second for the program during the DI era, trailing only Megan Wetter with 38. Schmotzer is 23rd in the league with 27 total blocks and 25th with 0.52 blocks per set.
Another First to Start the Summit
The Tommies began the Summit League schedule with three straight wins, the first time going 3-0 to start league play since joining in 2021. St. Thomas pulled off a win during its first ever home Summit League match, a five-set victory over North Dakota on Sept. 30, 2021, but had gone 0-8 during conference-opening weekends until this season. The Purple began this conference schedule with four-set wins over Kansas City, Omaha and Oral Roberts, the program's third straight win over UMKC, the first ever win over UNO and the fourth straight over ORU.
Ellie Gustafson and Morgan Kealy each recorded two double-doubles over the first three league matches. Gustafson most recently posted 12 kills, three behind Tezra Rudzitis with a team-high 15 hitting .480, and 10 digs on Oct. 2 during the win over Oral Roberts. Anya Schmidt set career highs against UNO with 26.0 points, 19 kills and 7 service aces, setting then later breaking the DI program record in aces. Her 19 kills rank fourth by a freshman and tied for eighth overall by a Tommie in a match during the DI era.
Another B1G Win
St. Thomas came away with the program's second win against a Power Four school all-time as it swept Northwestern (25-15, 25-17, 25-20) in Evanston, Ill., to begin the Northwestern Invitational, handing the Wildcats just their second loss of the season. It was the first sweep NU had allowed over a 15-match span. Senior Tezra Rudzitis and freshman Anya Schmidt were named to the All-Tournament Team while senior Megan Wetter totaled 17 kills on a .517 hitting percentage against Northwestern. St. Thomas' first Power Four win came a season ago over Iowa, 3-1 (25-19, 25-23, 24-26, 25-19), at the Panther Invitational in Milwaukee, Wis.
Dominating Non-Conference Play
St. Thomas won seven straight matches following its sweep over the Big Ten's Northwestern (25-15, 25-17, 25-20), marking its longest winning streak since joining Division I in 2021. The Tommies won their second straight tournament title with three all-tournament team selections in both tournaments, including both tournament MVPs in Ellie Gustafson (Molly Howard-Gerwig Memorial Invitational) and Ella Voegele (Bryant Invitational). After going 7-29 through the program's first 13 non-conference tournaments of the DI era, the Tommies have now gone 15-4 through the previous seven tournaments dating back to Sept. 5, 2024. During that span, St. Thomas has gone 15-1 through six of those tournaments with the majority of the losses coming at the Golden Gopher Invitational to start this season.
Season-Opening Double-Digit Kill Streak
Junior outside hitter Ellie Gustafson opened the 2025 campaign with six straight double-digit kill performances, becoming the first Tommie to do so since Taylor Lewis in 2016 (11 straight). The streak, which came to an end to start the Bryant Invitational, was also the longest of the Division I era, surpassing Lauren Galvin's three-match run to begin 2023. Gustafson is second on the team with 2.97 kills per set (98 kills). She posted a season-high 16 kills against Ball State, added two 14-kill outings, and recorded 10 kills in three additional matches to begin the season.
Veteran Leadership
Head Coach Thanh Pham enters his 23rd season leading St. Thomas, the longest-tenured head coach in the Summit League. He coached his 700th match on Sept. 13, a 3-1 win over Stony Brook to close the Bryant Invitational as tournament champions. Pham's culture and patience paid off during the final season of transition as the Tommies put together their most successful Division I campaign. The Purple finished 18-12 overall, becoming just the sixth transitioning program since 2011 to reach at least 18 wins and the first since 2018.
With the exit of 2012 St. Thomas Hall of Fame top assistant coach Joy Tietz, Pham added Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Jackie Richter, a Minnesota prep coaching legend, as the next top assistant. Richter most recently served as the head coach at Lakeville North High School where she won the 2017 Minnesota State Championship during four state tournament appearances. She was twice named Minnesota State Coach of the Year (2017, 2022) and was a Minnesota Sports Awards Coach of the Year finalist (2018).
Taking 1 from No. 11
St. Thomas battled No. 11 Minnesota to four sets in a 3-1 loss, marking the program's first-ever set victory against a nationally ranked opponent. Rudzitis tied her career high with 18 kills on .263 hitting, capping a weekend that earned her Golden Gopher Invitational All-Tournament Team honors. Freshman outside Anya Schmidt posted her first career double-double with 12 kills and 12 digs, while junior Ellie Gustafson recorded her third straight double-digit kill match to open the season.
High Preseason Praise
After finishing third in the Summit League standings a season ago, the Tommies were picked to finish third in the 2025 Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll. It's the highest preseason selection since joining the league in 2021. St. Thomas totaled 48 points behind South Dakota State with 62 points and 6 first-place votes and South Dakota with 57 points and 3 first-place votes. Setter Morgan Kealy and middle blocker Megan Wetter were named the program's Players to Watch.
Loaded on the Upper End
What Tommie Volleyball lacked to start the Division I era has now become a strength of the team: 14 of the team's 21 athletes are upperclassmen. Among the upperclassmen, nine are seniors with seven being a part of the program over each of the past four seasons. Kaitlynn Peterson and Ella Voegele transferred into the program before the 2023 season. Of the nine seniors on the roster, all but one call the state of Minnesota home as the eight are from within 45 miles of the St. Thomas campus.
Summit League Network
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.
Follow Along
For more information on St. Thomas Volleyball, follow along on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram at @tommievball. Tommie Athletics is now available on TikTok at @TommieSports.
Join Us
To reserve your seat to be a part of the Tommies' 2025 season, click HERE to view ticketing information and purchase options.
-- St. Thomas Athletics --
Players Mentioned
DS/L
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
S/DS
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
RS
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
DS/L
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
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
