University of St. Thomas Athletics
Photo by: Kylie Macziewski
Pair of double-doubles lead Volleyball to 3-1 win over Kansas City
9/25/2025 10:10:00 PM | Volleyball
Tommies improve to 8-4 overall as four athletes hit double digit kills
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The St. Thomas volleyball offense powered its way to a 3-1 win over Kansas City (23-25, 25-11, 25-18, 25-15) to open Summit League play on Thursday night in Schoenecker Arena. Four Tommies totaled double-digit kills while juniors Ellie Gustafson and Morgan Kealy each recorded double-doubles to help the team improve to 8-4 overall and 1-0 in the Summit League.
SCORING SUMMARY
Set One: The opening set saw both teams stay within three points of each other throughout. Following a kill by senior Tezra Rudzitis to begin scoring, the Tommies and Roos traded leads five times with 11 ties. Senior Megan Wetter contributed to two of the Tommies' three-point leads, a block assist with junior Morgan Kealy for a 17-14 advantage and one of her four first-set kills to make it 18-15. Kansas City closed on a 5-2 run after trailing, 21-20, to take a 1-0 lead.
Set Two: The Roos nabbed the opening lead of set two before a UMKC service error and a kill by Wetter gave the Tommies the lead for the rest of the way. UMKC was within two points, 11-9, before junior Ellie Gustafson and senior Allie Kopp led St. Thomas on a 14-2 run to win the set as Gustafson totaled four kills and Kopp put together three service aces over the final stretch.
Set Three: Gustafson added two service aces early in set three to create a cushion and give the Tommies the lead for good. Her second ace pushed the lead to 7-3, forcing a UMKC timeout. The Tommies hit .293 to hold off the Roos until back-to-back kills by Rudzitis sparked a 5-1 run to close the set win and go ahead, 2-1.
Set Four: Freshman Anya Schmidt began with back-to-back service aces as the Tommies controlled the final set from start to finish. St. Thomas led by as many as 12, 23-11, on Wetter's ninth kill of the night. St. Thomas limited Kansas City to .025 hitting as senior Kaitlynn Peterson and Wetter combined for a block to secure the first Summit League win of the season.
TOMMIE TIDBITS
SCORING SUMMARY
Set One: The opening set saw both teams stay within three points of each other throughout. Following a kill by senior Tezra Rudzitis to begin scoring, the Tommies and Roos traded leads five times with 11 ties. Senior Megan Wetter contributed to two of the Tommies' three-point leads, a block assist with junior Morgan Kealy for a 17-14 advantage and one of her four first-set kills to make it 18-15. Kansas City closed on a 5-2 run after trailing, 21-20, to take a 1-0 lead.
Set Two: The Roos nabbed the opening lead of set two before a UMKC service error and a kill by Wetter gave the Tommies the lead for the rest of the way. UMKC was within two points, 11-9, before junior Ellie Gustafson and senior Allie Kopp led St. Thomas on a 14-2 run to win the set as Gustafson totaled four kills and Kopp put together three service aces over the final stretch.
Set Three: Gustafson added two service aces early in set three to create a cushion and give the Tommies the lead for good. Her second ace pushed the lead to 7-3, forcing a UMKC timeout. The Tommies hit .293 to hold off the Roos until back-to-back kills by Rudzitis sparked a 5-1 run to close the set win and go ahead, 2-1.
Set Four: Freshman Anya Schmidt began with back-to-back service aces as the Tommies controlled the final set from start to finish. St. Thomas led by as many as 12, 23-11, on Wetter's ninth kill of the night. St. Thomas limited Kansas City to .025 hitting as senior Kaitlynn Peterson and Wetter combined for a block to secure the first Summit League win of the season.
TOMMIE TIDBITS
- Ellie Gustafson's 16th career double-double came behind 15 kills and 12 digs, her first double-double since Sept. 5 when she totaled two at the Molly Howard-Gerwig Memorial Tournament. She hit .361 from the floor, her second-best percentage of the season, while her 12 digs are her third most in a match this year.
- Morgan Kealy recorded her 34th career double-double with team highs of 43 assists and 15 digs, her first double-double since totaling 37 assists and 12 digs Sept. 13 against Stony Brook to close out the Bryant Invitational.
- Tezra Rudzitis led the Tommies in kills for the third time this season, totaling 16 kills with just one error for a season-best .517 hitting percentage.
- Anya Schmidt followed with 12 kills on a .214 hitting percentage to go along with eight digs and two service aces. Megan Wetter was the final Tommie hitting double digit kills, totaling 10 and leading the team with four blocks.
- Ella Voegele followed Kealy in digs with 14 and assists with 7, while adding one service ace. Allie Kopp set a career high five service aces, including four in set two.
- St. Thomas hit .310 with 60 kills compared to a .133 hitting percentage and 36 kills for Kansas City. The Tommies totaled 12 service aces, tying a season-high set against Army on Sept. 12.
- Tommies' third straight win over Kansas City but the first during the nine-match series that has gone past three sets.
QUOTEABLES
Head Coach Thanh Pham's thoughts following the Tommies' win to open Summit League play
"I"m really proud of the team and I thought the environment was great with all the students there. I was very proud with how our team was able to deal with some adversity losing the first set and coming back strong in sets two , three and four. I thought our team locked in really well to beat a UMKC team that just two years ago won the conference and we know how good they can be so it was a really good win for us."
UP NEXT
St. Thomas remains at home Saturday, Sept. 27 as it hosts Omaha at 12 p.m. on Alumni Day.
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.
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-- St. Thomas Athletics --
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