University of St. Thomas Athletics
Friday, December 5
Minneapolis, Minn.
4:30 p.m. CT
vs
No. 5 Iowa State
Photo by: kyliemacziewskiphotography.mypixieset.com
2024
Volleyball set for NCAA Tournament showdown versus Iowa State
12/4/2025 9:23:00 AM | Volleyball
St. Thomas makes first ever NCAA postseason appearance Friday at 4:30 p.m.
ST. PAUL, Minn. – St. Thomas volleyball's story book season looks to add another chapter Friday, Dec. 5 as it opens the NCAA Division I Volleyball Tournament against No. 5 seed Iowa State. The Tommies, in their first season of Division I postseason eligibility, play the Cyclones for the second time ever at 4:30 p.m. at Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis.
The winner of Friday's match will advance to the second round to play the winner between No. 4 seed Minnesota and Fairfield at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Live Media
Live Stats: vs Iowa State
Stream/Live Video: ESPN+
Series History
St. Thomas and Iowa State played once during the Tommies' initial season of DI play in 2021, a 3-0 win (25-12, 26-24, 25-15) by the Cyclones. The teams met at Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis as part of Minnesota's Diet Coke Classic. ISU's libero Paula Krzeslak is the only athlete between both teams still active from that season, as she served as a redshirt during the 2021 season. Since then, she has played in 94 matches for Iowa State.
Experience at the Top
Both head coaches at St. Thomas and Iowa State have been leading their squads for over two decades, Thanh Pham in his 23rd season with the Tommies and Christy Johnson-Lynch in her 21st with the Cyclones. Pham won his 500th career match this season (509-212, .706) while Johnson-Lynch recorded her 400th career win (402-226, .640), both doing so with their current squads. The duo has combined for 32 national tournament appearances (14 DIII/1 DI for Pham and 17 DI for Johnson-Lynch) while Pham won the 2012 DIII National Tournament and Johnson-Lynch advanced as far as the Regional Final twice (2008, 2011). Johnson-Lynch led the Cyclones to a National Invitational Volleyball Championship title in 2018.
Dancing on the Summit
St. Thomas claimed its first Summit League Tournament Championship during its first season of eligibility following a 3-1 win over No. 1 seed South Dakota State in Brookings, S.D. The Tommies (21-9) beat the Jackrabbits 25-18, 19-25, 25-21, 25-23 as Morgan Kealy was named the tournament MVP and Tezra Rudzitis and Anya Schmidt were selected to the All-Tournament Team.
St. Thomas is the only Summit League team to defeat South Dakota State in Brookings over the past two seasons, one win coming in each 2024 and 2025.
The Tommies hit .269 while holding SDSU to .233, with both teams totaling 11 blocks. Rudzitis delivered a championship-level performance with 22 kills on .327 hitting. Schmidt tallied 12 kills and 10 digs for her fifth career double-double. Wetter posted 11 kills on .321 hitting and a team-best six blocks. Kealy recorded 41 assists and 14 digs, marking her 19th double-double of the season. Libero Ella Voegele anchored the defense with a match-high 22 digs.
A Long Time Coming for the Summit
St. Thomas is looking to snap a 28-year winless streak by Summit League teams in the NCAA Tournament. The last team from the league to win a tournament match was Oral Roberts in five sets over Arizona in 1997. Since 1999, Summit League teams have combined to win five sets with 25 of 28 matches being losses in three sets. South Dakota won two sets against Houston in 2022, Fort Wayne won two sets against Iowa State in 2012, and Valparaiso won one set against Notre Dame in 2004.
Set the Bar
Through the first three seasons of St. Thomas' transition into Division I, the program totaled 71 set wins in 85 matches. In 2025 alone, the Tommies have won 70 sets in 30 matches, surpassing the 61 sets won in 28 matches in 2024.
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 71 heading into the NCAA DI Tournament. 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: 70) and South Dakota State (RPI: 31) and now ranking third among all Summit League teams. Iowa State enters the weekend 26 in the RPI rankings.
Ranking Top 50 Nationally
St. Thomas continued to build on its national-ranking stats heading into the NCAA Tournament. The Tommies are ninth in aces per set (2.03), 12th in kills per set (14.19), 14th in assists per set (13.13), 22nd in attacks per set (37.09), 45th in digs per set (15.68) and 51st in hitting percentage (.248). Morgan Kealy is 39th nationally and third in the Summit League with 10.15 assists per set while Allie Kopp is 56th in the nation with 0.42 aces per set, following Anya Schmidt who is 13th nationally with 0.53 aces per set.
Pulling in the Awards
The Summit League announced its annual volleyball regular season awards with St. Thomas earning two major awards including Morgan Kealy being named the Summit League Setter of the Year for the second consecutive season and Anya Schmidt as the Freshman of the Year. Joining Kealy on the All-Summit League First Team are Tezra Rudzitis and Megan Wetter while Schmidt earned a spot on the All-Freshman Team.
Kealy repeats as the Summit League Setter of the Year and as a member of the all-league first team, joined by Wetter who was also a member of the first team last season. It's the second straight season St. Thomas has three members on the all-league team while the program has totaled five selections to the all-freshman team since 2021.
One of the nation's most productive setters, Kealy ranks 39th nationally in assists per set and 29th in total assists while also appearing among national leaders in total digs (214th). She sits third in the Summit League in assists per set and top nine in both aces (9th) and digs per set (7th). Kealy recorded 19 double-doubles and delivered the league's only triple-double this season (41 assists, 12 digs, 11 kills) in a road win at Denver. She tied for the fourth-most assists in a Summit League match with 52 during a win over North Dakota State. A Summit League Peak Performer of the Week selection, she surpassed both 2,000 and 2,500 career assists this season.
Rudzitis, an honorable mention team selection last season, made her first career appearance on the first team as she stands fourth in the Summit League in hitting percentage (.328), fifth in kills per set (3.55) and sixth in points per set (3.78). She also ranks among the nation's top 200 in kills per set (144th) and hitting percentage (147th), and became just the second Tommie of the Division I era to pass 1,000 career kills. A two-time Summit League Peak Performer of the Week, Rudzitis posted 24 double-digit kill performances, highlighted by 22 kills against South Dakota State in the Summit League Tournament title match, a career-high 23 kills on .487 hitting in a win at Denver and a dominant 19 kills on .720 hitting during a sweep at Kansas City.
Wetter delivered one of the Summit League's most efficient and complete seasons at the net. She ranks seventh in the conference in hitting percentage (.309), 10th in points (3.43) and blocks per set (0.84), and 11th in kills per set (2.73). Wetter produced 18 double-digit kill performances, including three matches with a career-high 17 kills—punctuated by a .739 outing, the fourth highest single-match hitting percentage in the league this year. She led St. Thomas in blocks a team-best 21 times, anchored by a six-block effort at South Dakota State during the Summit League Tournament title match. A Summit League Peak Performer of the Week honoree, she dominated a 3-0 nonconference weekend with 3.82 kills per set and a .536 attack clip while adding multiple aces in seven matches throughout the season. Wetter enters the NCAA Tournament as the Tommies' Division I era career blocks leader with 268.
One of the nation's elite servers, Schmidt ranks 8th nationally and 1st in the Summit League in total aces (58) and 13th nationally and 1st in the league in aces per set (0.53). She adds top-10 league marks in points per set (3.66) and kills per set (2.96). Schmidt tied the Summit League four-set single-match ace record and matched the NCAA season high with 10 aces while adding 10 kills for one of her three double-doubles. She produced the league's three highest single-match ace totals this year. Schmidt totaled 19 double-digit kill matches and 7 matches with 10-plus digs, including the semifinal and final rounds of the Summit League Tournament.
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 one of two senior classes in the country that includes nine seniors, joining Texas A&M and Northwestern, with seven being a part of the program for four seasons. The class has totaled 50 wins over its past four seasons, including a DI-program-best 21 wins this season.
Four seniors have combined for six Division I career records for the program including aces (Allie Kopp, 126), blocks (Megan Wetter, 268), digs (Ella Voegele, 1802), hitting percentage (Megan Wetter, .284), kills (Tezra Rudzitis, 1086), and points (Tezra Rudzitis, 1202).
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 surpassed Lauren Galvin (2021-24) for the program's most career kills during the DI era with 1,086 and with 391 kills in a season.
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).
Four or Less
All 16 of St. Thomas' Summit League matches and 28 of 30 total matches have been decided in four or fewer sets, including 11 Summit League matches coming down to four sets. After opening the season with a five-set loss to Ball State at Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis, St. Thomas didn't face another five-set match until the Summit League Tournament semifinal against South Dakota. The Tommies won the opening set against the Coyotes before dropping sets two and three. USD led by as many as four, 12-8, and last led, 17-16, in the fourth set before St. Thomas closed the set with a 9-2 run. The Tommies opened the final set on a 6-2 run to take control and win the set.
Ranking Top 50 Nationally
Through the majority of the season, St. Thomas has been among the tops in the nation in several statistical categories including: aces per set (9th, 2.03), kills per set (12th, 14.19), assists per set (14th, 13.13), attacks per set (22nd, 37.09) and digs per set (45th, 15.68). In addition, the Tommies also fall near the top 100 in overall win-loss percentage (57th, .700), hitting percentage (61st, .248), and opponent hitting percentage (107th, .197). Within the Summit League, St. Thomas leads in points per set (17.86), hitting percentage, assists per set, kills per set and service aces per set.
All-Around Power
Of the top 11 individuals among the league in kills per set, two programs have multiple athletes on the list. While Omaha has two among the top 11, St. Thomas features three athletes including Tezra Rudzitis (5th/3.55), Anya Schmidt (10th/2.96), and Megan Wetter (11th/2.73). Since 2021, St. Thomas has not had three athletes average 2.65 kills per set or better during the same season.
Ace Ace Baby
Freshman Anya Schmidt's hot run at the service line has lifted her to rank 13th nationally in aces per set with 0.53 and eighth in total aces with 58. She has at least one ace in 21 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. Senior Allie Kopp is right behind Schmidt in service aces with 0.42 per set, ranking 56th 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 eighth among all active NCAA DI athletes and 32nd among active athletes in all divisions for total digs, entering the week with 1,802. In addition, she ranks 13th among all DI athletes in career digs per set with 4.31. 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 second in total digs (410) and fourth in digs per set (3.73) in the Summit League.
Going Triple-Double
Junior setter 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 (currently 46 career), her seventh match of the season with at least 40 assists (currently 11), and 11th match of 2025 with at least 10 digs (currently 19). 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.
2.5K(ealy) Assists
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 1,116 total assists and third with 10.15 assists per set this season. She is 45th among active DI athletes and second among all Summit League setters in active career assists (2,804), trailing only Avery Van Hook from South Dakota (3,272). The St. Thomas offense leads the Summit League and is 61st nationally at .248.
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. 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.
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 27 career solo blocks (13 in 2024) rank second for the program during the DI era, trailing only Megan Wetter with 50. Schmotzer is 18th in the league with 59 total blocks and 24th with 0.58 blocks per set.
500 Wins with the Purple and Gray
Head Coach Thanh Pham 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.
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, which includes the first ever win over Omaha.
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 Omaha 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.
Taking 1 from No. 11
St. Thomas battled No. 11 Minnesota to four sets in a 3-1 loss on Aug. 31, 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.
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-- St. Thomas Athletics --
The winner of Friday's match will advance to the second round to play the winner between No. 4 seed Minnesota and Fairfield at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Live Media
Live Stats: vs Iowa State
Stream/Live Video: ESPN+
Series History
St. Thomas and Iowa State played once during the Tommies' initial season of DI play in 2021, a 3-0 win (25-12, 26-24, 25-15) by the Cyclones. The teams met at Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis as part of Minnesota's Diet Coke Classic. ISU's libero Paula Krzeslak is the only athlete between both teams still active from that season, as she served as a redshirt during the 2021 season. Since then, she has played in 94 matches for Iowa State.
Experience at the Top
Both head coaches at St. Thomas and Iowa State have been leading their squads for over two decades, Thanh Pham in his 23rd season with the Tommies and Christy Johnson-Lynch in her 21st with the Cyclones. Pham won his 500th career match this season (509-212, .706) while Johnson-Lynch recorded her 400th career win (402-226, .640), both doing so with their current squads. The duo has combined for 32 national tournament appearances (14 DIII/1 DI for Pham and 17 DI for Johnson-Lynch) while Pham won the 2012 DIII National Tournament and Johnson-Lynch advanced as far as the Regional Final twice (2008, 2011). Johnson-Lynch led the Cyclones to a National Invitational Volleyball Championship title in 2018.
Dancing on the Summit
St. Thomas claimed its first Summit League Tournament Championship during its first season of eligibility following a 3-1 win over No. 1 seed South Dakota State in Brookings, S.D. The Tommies (21-9) beat the Jackrabbits 25-18, 19-25, 25-21, 25-23 as Morgan Kealy was named the tournament MVP and Tezra Rudzitis and Anya Schmidt were selected to the All-Tournament Team.
St. Thomas is the only Summit League team to defeat South Dakota State in Brookings over the past two seasons, one win coming in each 2024 and 2025.
The Tommies hit .269 while holding SDSU to .233, with both teams totaling 11 blocks. Rudzitis delivered a championship-level performance with 22 kills on .327 hitting. Schmidt tallied 12 kills and 10 digs for her fifth career double-double. Wetter posted 11 kills on .321 hitting and a team-best six blocks. Kealy recorded 41 assists and 14 digs, marking her 19th double-double of the season. Libero Ella Voegele anchored the defense with a match-high 22 digs.
A Long Time Coming for the Summit
St. Thomas is looking to snap a 28-year winless streak by Summit League teams in the NCAA Tournament. The last team from the league to win a tournament match was Oral Roberts in five sets over Arizona in 1997. Since 1999, Summit League teams have combined to win five sets with 25 of 28 matches being losses in three sets. South Dakota won two sets against Houston in 2022, Fort Wayne won two sets against Iowa State in 2012, and Valparaiso won one set against Notre Dame in 2004.
Set the Bar
Through the first three seasons of St. Thomas' transition into Division I, the program totaled 71 set wins in 85 matches. In 2025 alone, the Tommies have won 70 sets in 30 matches, surpassing the 61 sets won in 28 matches in 2024.
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 71 heading into the NCAA DI Tournament. 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: 70) and South Dakota State (RPI: 31) and now ranking third among all Summit League teams. Iowa State enters the weekend 26 in the RPI rankings.
Ranking Top 50 Nationally
St. Thomas continued to build on its national-ranking stats heading into the NCAA Tournament. The Tommies are ninth in aces per set (2.03), 12th in kills per set (14.19), 14th in assists per set (13.13), 22nd in attacks per set (37.09), 45th in digs per set (15.68) and 51st in hitting percentage (.248). Morgan Kealy is 39th nationally and third in the Summit League with 10.15 assists per set while Allie Kopp is 56th in the nation with 0.42 aces per set, following Anya Schmidt who is 13th nationally with 0.53 aces per set.
Pulling in the Awards
The Summit League announced its annual volleyball regular season awards with St. Thomas earning two major awards including Morgan Kealy being named the Summit League Setter of the Year for the second consecutive season and Anya Schmidt as the Freshman of the Year. Joining Kealy on the All-Summit League First Team are Tezra Rudzitis and Megan Wetter while Schmidt earned a spot on the All-Freshman Team.
Kealy repeats as the Summit League Setter of the Year and as a member of the all-league first team, joined by Wetter who was also a member of the first team last season. It's the second straight season St. Thomas has three members on the all-league team while the program has totaled five selections to the all-freshman team since 2021.
One of the nation's most productive setters, Kealy ranks 39th nationally in assists per set and 29th in total assists while also appearing among national leaders in total digs (214th). She sits third in the Summit League in assists per set and top nine in both aces (9th) and digs per set (7th). Kealy recorded 19 double-doubles and delivered the league's only triple-double this season (41 assists, 12 digs, 11 kills) in a road win at Denver. She tied for the fourth-most assists in a Summit League match with 52 during a win over North Dakota State. A Summit League Peak Performer of the Week selection, she surpassed both 2,000 and 2,500 career assists this season.
Rudzitis, an honorable mention team selection last season, made her first career appearance on the first team as she stands fourth in the Summit League in hitting percentage (.328), fifth in kills per set (3.55) and sixth in points per set (3.78). She also ranks among the nation's top 200 in kills per set (144th) and hitting percentage (147th), and became just the second Tommie of the Division I era to pass 1,000 career kills. A two-time Summit League Peak Performer of the Week, Rudzitis posted 24 double-digit kill performances, highlighted by 22 kills against South Dakota State in the Summit League Tournament title match, a career-high 23 kills on .487 hitting in a win at Denver and a dominant 19 kills on .720 hitting during a sweep at Kansas City.
Wetter delivered one of the Summit League's most efficient and complete seasons at the net. She ranks seventh in the conference in hitting percentage (.309), 10th in points (3.43) and blocks per set (0.84), and 11th in kills per set (2.73). Wetter produced 18 double-digit kill performances, including three matches with a career-high 17 kills—punctuated by a .739 outing, the fourth highest single-match hitting percentage in the league this year. She led St. Thomas in blocks a team-best 21 times, anchored by a six-block effort at South Dakota State during the Summit League Tournament title match. A Summit League Peak Performer of the Week honoree, she dominated a 3-0 nonconference weekend with 3.82 kills per set and a .536 attack clip while adding multiple aces in seven matches throughout the season. Wetter enters the NCAA Tournament as the Tommies' Division I era career blocks leader with 268.
One of the nation's elite servers, Schmidt ranks 8th nationally and 1st in the Summit League in total aces (58) and 13th nationally and 1st in the league in aces per set (0.53). She adds top-10 league marks in points per set (3.66) and kills per set (2.96). Schmidt tied the Summit League four-set single-match ace record and matched the NCAA season high with 10 aces while adding 10 kills for one of her three double-doubles. She produced the league's three highest single-match ace totals this year. Schmidt totaled 19 double-digit kill matches and 7 matches with 10-plus digs, including the semifinal and final rounds of the Summit League Tournament.
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 one of two senior classes in the country that includes nine seniors, joining Texas A&M and Northwestern, with seven being a part of the program for four seasons. The class has totaled 50 wins over its past four seasons, including a DI-program-best 21 wins this season.
Four seniors have combined for six Division I career records for the program including aces (Allie Kopp, 126), blocks (Megan Wetter, 268), digs (Ella Voegele, 1802), hitting percentage (Megan Wetter, .284), kills (Tezra Rudzitis, 1086), and points (Tezra Rudzitis, 1202).
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 surpassed Lauren Galvin (2021-24) for the program's most career kills during the DI era with 1,086 and with 391 kills in a season.
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).
Four or Less
All 16 of St. Thomas' Summit League matches and 28 of 30 total matches have been decided in four or fewer sets, including 11 Summit League matches coming down to four sets. After opening the season with a five-set loss to Ball State at Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis, St. Thomas didn't face another five-set match until the Summit League Tournament semifinal against South Dakota. The Tommies won the opening set against the Coyotes before dropping sets two and three. USD led by as many as four, 12-8, and last led, 17-16, in the fourth set before St. Thomas closed the set with a 9-2 run. The Tommies opened the final set on a 6-2 run to take control and win the set.
Ranking Top 50 Nationally
Through the majority of the season, St. Thomas has been among the tops in the nation in several statistical categories including: aces per set (9th, 2.03), kills per set (12th, 14.19), assists per set (14th, 13.13), attacks per set (22nd, 37.09) and digs per set (45th, 15.68). In addition, the Tommies also fall near the top 100 in overall win-loss percentage (57th, .700), hitting percentage (61st, .248), and opponent hitting percentage (107th, .197). Within the Summit League, St. Thomas leads in points per set (17.86), hitting percentage, assists per set, kills per set and service aces per set.
All-Around Power
Of the top 11 individuals among the league in kills per set, two programs have multiple athletes on the list. While Omaha has two among the top 11, St. Thomas features three athletes including Tezra Rudzitis (5th/3.55), Anya Schmidt (10th/2.96), and Megan Wetter (11th/2.73). Since 2021, St. Thomas has not had three athletes average 2.65 kills per set or better during the same season.
Ace Ace Baby
Freshman Anya Schmidt's hot run at the service line has lifted her to rank 13th nationally in aces per set with 0.53 and eighth in total aces with 58. She has at least one ace in 21 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. Senior Allie Kopp is right behind Schmidt in service aces with 0.42 per set, ranking 56th 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 eighth among all active NCAA DI athletes and 32nd among active athletes in all divisions for total digs, entering the week with 1,802. In addition, she ranks 13th among all DI athletes in career digs per set with 4.31. 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 second in total digs (410) and fourth in digs per set (3.73) in the Summit League.
Going Triple-Double
Junior setter 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 (currently 46 career), her seventh match of the season with at least 40 assists (currently 11), and 11th match of 2025 with at least 10 digs (currently 19). 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.
2.5K(ealy) Assists
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 1,116 total assists and third with 10.15 assists per set this season. She is 45th among active DI athletes and second among all Summit League setters in active career assists (2,804), trailing only Avery Van Hook from South Dakota (3,272). The St. Thomas offense leads the Summit League and is 61st nationally at .248.
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. 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.
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 27 career solo blocks (13 in 2024) rank second for the program during the DI era, trailing only Megan Wetter with 50. Schmotzer is 18th in the league with 59 total blocks and 24th with 0.58 blocks per set.
500 Wins with the Purple and Gray
Head Coach Thanh Pham 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.
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, which includes the first ever win over Omaha.
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 Omaha 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.
Taking 1 from No. 11
St. Thomas battled No. 11 Minnesota to four sets in a 3-1 loss on Aug. 31, 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.
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-- St. Thomas Athletics --
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Tommie Volleyball NCAA Tournament Press Conference
Monday, December 01
St. Thomas Volleyball 2023 Intro Video
Tuesday, September 05
Volleyball
Saturday, November 19
St. Thomas Volleyball 2022 Intro Video
Friday, September 30
