Schmidt delivers 19 kills, Kealy adds a double-double in victory over Omaha

ST. PAUL, Minn. – St. Thomas volleyball has now beaten every other program in the Summit League following Saturday's 3-1 win over Omaha (25-22, 27-25, 16-25, 25-20) in Schoenecker Arena. Freshman Anya Schmidt put together a career-high 19 kills with a Division I program record 7 service aces while junior Morgan Kealy recorded her eighth double-double of the season to improve the Tommies to 9-4 overall and 2-0 in league play.

SCORING SUMMARY
Set One: The teams traded leads three times over the opening points, finally by the Tommies behind back-to-back kills by freshman Anya Schmidt. Schmidt's kills started a 5-1 St. Thomas run for a 9-6 lead that grew to as many as 8, 18-10, coming off a dump kill by junior setter Morgan Kealy coming out of an Omaha timeout. The Mavericks answered with a 7-2 run to force a Tommie timeout, continuing the run to tie the set at 21-21. Senior Tezra Rudzitis snapped the skid with back-to-back kills before junior Ellie Gustafson closed the 25-22 set win on a kill.

Set Two: The set began with six straight side outs before Omaha strung together a 5-1 run. Back-to-back service aces and a kill from Schmidt cut the deficit to 8-7 and forced an Omaha timeout. St. Thomas grabbed an 11-10 lead with a 3-0 run capped by kills from Megan Wetter and Gustafson, but Omaha answered to go back in front. The Tommies reclaimed the edge late as Kealy delivered two kills in a 4-1 stretch for a 22-21 lead. Omaha responded to earn two set points, but Rudzitis came through with a kill and a solo block to spark a 3-0 finish that sealed the set, 25-23.

Set Three: Omaha raced out to a 7-2 lead that forced a St. Thomas timeout and later used an 11-2 surge to build a 21-12 advantage. The Tommies couldn't find their rhythm offensively, hitting just .061 in the frame, while the Mavericks closed strong behind a .320 attack percentage to take the set 25-16.

Set Four: Both squads again traded leads three times early before the Tommies used an 8-2 run, highlighted by three kills from Rudzitis, to go up 12-8. Omaha responded with a 6-1 surge to retake the lead at 14-13, but St. Thomas stayed close and capitalized on Maverick errors along with kills from Addie Schmotzer and Schmidt to move ahead 19-18. Out of an Omaha timeout, Rudzitis delivered another kill, and Ellie Gustafson added a finish before Schmidt fired back-to-back aces for a 23-18 cushion. Rudzitis set up match point, and an Omaha attack error (upheld after review) clinched the 25-20 win and the Tommies' first-ever victory over the Mavericks.

TOMMIE TIDBITS

St. Thomas has now beaten every other program in the Summit League, improving its all-time record against Omaha to 1-8 since joining the league in 2021. The Mavericks had swept the past three matches while the Tommies had won just three sets total over the previous eight matches.
Despite hitting their lowest attack percentage of the season (.133), the Tommies held the Mavericks to their third lowest percentage of the season (.198). St. Thomas totaled 50 kills to Omaha's 42 with 47 assists compared to 39 for the Mavericks.
Saturday was the fifth time hitting at least 10 service aces, tying a season high with 12 done twice before.
Anya Schmidt set career highs with 26.0 points, 19 kills and 7 service aces, breaking her own Division I program record in aces. Her 19 kills ranks fourth by a Tommie freshman during the DI era, trailing only Lauren Galvin from 2021 who recorded a 22-kill match and two 20-kill matches.
Morgan Kealy produced her second double-double performance of the weekend, eighth of the season and 35th of her career with 31 assists and a team high 16 digs. She added six kills, two block assists and two aces.
Tezra Rudzitis put down 11 kills on a .333 hitting percentage along with 4 digs, 2 blocks and 2 assists. Saturday was the ninth match this season with double figure kills.
Ella Voegele followed Kealy with 12 digs and totaled a perfect serve receive percentage on 14 attempts.

QUOTEABLES
Head Coach Thanh Pham's thoughts following the Tommies' first ever win against the Mavericks to clinch a league-opening weekend sweep
"I'm very proud of how our ladies fought all match. Omaha has been a team that has traditionally dominated us and for us to be able to come out at home on a Saturday match and play so well, I was very proud. Everyone didn't have their 'A' game but they found a way to add and I loved seeing how our team continues to evolve."

UP NEXT
St. Thomas makes first appearance on the road during conference season with a single-match week on Thursday, Oct. 2 at Oral Roberts.

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-- St. Thomas Athletics --

Schmidt delivers 19 kills, Kealy adds a double-double in victory over Omaha

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Team Stats

Anya Schmidt

Tezra Rudzitis

Ellie Gustafson

Morgan Kealy

Players Mentioned

Lauren Galvin

Ellie Gustafson

Morgan Kealy

Tezra Rudzitis

Anya Schmidt

Addie Schmotzer

Ella Voegele

Megan Wetter

University of St. Thomas Athletics