Dave Eggen/Inertia

Women's Volleyball

Third-seeded Tommies rally past second-seeded Coyotes to reach title match

The Basics
Score: No. 3 St. Thomas 3, No. 2 seed South Dakota 2
Records: St. Thomas (20-9, 11-5 SL), South Dakota (20-9, 12-4 SL)
Location: First Bank & Trust Arena – Brookings, S.D.

BROOKINGS, S.D. – Making its first Division I postseason appearance, No. 3 seed St. Thomas will play for a tournament title following a thrilling 3-2 victory over No. 2 seed South Dakota (25-22, 22-25, 16-25, 25-19, 15-9) in the opening semifinal of the 2025 Summit League Volleyball Championship at the First Bank & Trust Arena.

The Tommies were down 2-1 to the defending tournament champions but rallied from a 4-0 deficit in the fourth set to pull even at two sets a piece, then dominated the fifth set, winning that 15-9 to claim the program's 20th win of the campaign. It marks the first 20-win season for the Tommies at the DI level. Freshman Anya Schmidt had a career-night, tallying 19 kills and 14 digs, while senior Teza Rudzitis added 17 kills to pace the Tommies.

UST looked good early as the Tommies would lead the opening set by as many as six at 17-11 and never trailed but the Coyotes would pull within two on three different occasions down the stretch of the opener, including at 24-22 before Morgan Kealy finished off the game for UST with her first kill of the match.

The Coyotes quickly regrouped in set two, surging ahead 5-2 and eventually pushing their lead to 10-4 on freshman Ava Ball's fifth kill of the early stretches of play. The Tommies would rally, pulling to within 21-20 after back-to-back net violations by USD but they could not close the gap all the way.

Amanda Loschen would squelch the Tommies' run with a kill and Sierra Pokrahel followed with a service ace to push the Coyotes' lead back to three at 23-20. Loschen would finish the set off with her eighth kill of the match, giving the Coyotes a 25-22 victory.

Neither team hit better than .200 in the two sets but that changed in the third. After St. Thomas opened set three with a 5-2 lead, the Coyotes' attackers heated up. USD would quickly pull even with three straight points of their own. From there, neither team led by more than two until USD broke a 13-13 tie by rattling off the next seven points, including three straight kills from Ball that forced a Tommies' timeout. That surge allowed USD to grab a 2-1 lead as the Coyotes closed the set on a 12-3 run to win it 25-16.

Ball and company hit .394 in the third set, converting 16-of-33 attacks, while St. Thomas managed just six kills on 36 attempts to hit .111.

USD scored the first four points of the fourth set but the Tommies would claw all the way back. UST used a 6-0 spurt midway through the frame to take a 14-12 advantage following an attack error by Lauren Meddick. The squads would go back-and-forth from there with UST moving ahead 19-17 on a block by the tandem of Megan Wetter and Ellie Gustafson.

After the Coyotes closed to within 19-18 on a kill by Loschen, the Tommies would get six of the next seven points to force a descisive fifth set with a 25-19 victory. Schmidt had back-to-back kills late in the set to give her 16 going into the final stanza as UST had its best set hitting percentage with a .256 to draw even at 2-2.

The Coyotes opened the scoring in the fifth set, but the Tommies would muster six of the next seven points to build a 6-2 cushion. Rudzitis, an all-league first teamer, had a pair of kills during that stretch as she pushed her total to 15 for the match.

St. Thomas would lead 8-3 at the switch and continue to roll after the break, pushing the advantage to 12-5. The Coyotes would not go down easy as a kill from Ball made it 13-9 but Rudzitis would create match point with her 16th kill of the match and finish things off her 17th.

Who Stood Out
Schmidt set career-highs with 19 kills and 14 digs to record her third double-double of the season, while Rudzitis added 17. Gustafson would also net a double-double for the Tommies, tallying 11 kills to go with 17 digs. Kealy would dish out 43 total assists and add 13 digs to give the Tommies a trio of players with a double-double.

Ball finished with a match and career-high 20 kills for the Coyotes as she hit .296 on 54 total attacks. She led a group of five Coyotes in double-figure kills. Medeck and Loschen each had a dozen, while Audrey Nelson added 11 and Morgan Bode rounded out the quintet with 10.

USD junior setter Avery Han Hook matched her career-high with 58 assists and added 16 digs for the Coyotes. Medeck also registered a double-double, posting 13 digs to go with her 12 kills. Defensive Player of the Year Kamryn Farris tallied a match-high 32 digs.
 
Turning Point
After dropping sets two and three to fall behind 2-1, the Tommies battled back from a quick 4-0 deficit in the fourth set to stage quite the comeback. With the fourth set tied at 17-17, UST closed the set on an 8-2 run and dominated the fifth set to win their second straight in tournament play.
 
Notable
  • The Tommies avenged a pair of regular-season losses to the Coyotes with the five-set victory.
  • UST's victory was also the program's 20th of the season, marking the first time the Tommies have reached that milestone at the Division I level.
  • South Dakota won both regular season matchups with the Tommies, sweeping St. Thomas at home and winning in four sets on the road.
  • This marks just the second time in the last six tournaments that South Dakota will not play for a title.
  • The No. 3 seed has won two of the past five tournaments, including a seaosn ago when the Coyotes won it all from that seeding position.
Up Next
The Tommies will play in the 2025 #SummitVB Championship title match Tuesday at 6 p.m. against the winner of the No. 1 South Dakota State-No. 4 North Dakota State matchup.
 
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