The St. Thomas Tommies lost to the Iowa State Cyclones 3-2 in the first round of the NCAA championship at the Maturi Pavillion in Minneapolis. (Milla Mirkovic/The Crest) 
Tommie first-year outside hitter Anya Schmidt dives for the ball. Schmidt played in all five sets with 15 total kills. (Milla Mirkovic/The Crest) 
St Thomas held their own against the Big 12 school, playing to five sets and losing by just seven points in the last set. (Milla Mirkovic/The Crest) 
Fans cheered in the stands as the Tommies made their first NCAA tournament appearance. (Milla Mirkovic/The Crest) 
Despite not advancing in the NCAA tournament, St. Thomas women’s volleyball still ends the season as Summit League champions. (Milla Mirkovic/The Crest)
St. Thomas volleyball’s historic season came to an end as Iowa State outlasted the Tommies 3-2 (21-25, 25-13, 25-16, 21-25, 15-8) Friday evening at the Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis.
Friday’s game marks the third time since 1999 a Summit League team has forced five sets in the NCAA tournament. In that same span, 25 of 28 games have ended in three sets. No team in the Summit League has won an NCAA tournament game in 28 years; South Dakota State also lost their matchup against Arizona 3-1 Friday.
“Today we didn’t win, but our program got better,” coach Thanh Pham said.
St. Thomas fell short in the fifth frame. The Tommies started the set 5-3, but the Cyclones went on a 7-0 run afterward. Both exchanged points the rest of the game, but Iowa State outpaced St. Thomas to clinch its spot in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
The Tommies got off to a promising start, taking the first set 25-21, which marked the sixth time a Summit League team has won a set in the tournament since 1999. First-year outside hitter Anya Schmidt and senior middle blocker Megan Wetter lead the frame with four kills each. The Tommies led by as much as four points.
“It was just a touch of relief, because I think that we’ve won most of our first sets in the last eight matches. So we were actually expecting to win the first set. And for it to actually go that way was actually a touch of relief. We knew Iowa State was, I mean, they’re a top-25 team for a reason,” Pham said.
The Tommie offense stalled in the second and third sets, and Iowa State regained control of the game. ISU’s hitting percentage in the second set was .552, and it forced six attack errors. Pham said “ball control got away for just a moment.”
“Iowa State is too good. You can’t take a second off, and unfortunately, we did. With every experience comes wisdom, and we’ll learn from this as a team,” Pham said.
In the fourth set, Schmidt and Wetter combined for six kills and forced a fifth set. Schmidt finished the game with 16 kills and a .133 hitting percentage. Wetter followed with 12 kills and .310 hitting percentage.
“It was super important that we really pushed in that fourth set. I mean we were down two sets to one. We were just like, ‘We’re gonna play fearless. We’re gonna go for it.’ I mean, this could be our last time that we play together,” Schmidt said.
St. Thomas’ boldness was appreciated from the stands. There were plenty of Tommie fans cheering, yet Gopher fans made the roaring grow even louder. Gopher fans stood up at the end of the fourth frame in unison with Tommie fans, likely due to their animosity toward any Iowa-based team.
“I was back there serving, and I heard the Gopher volleyball team cheering me on. So, it was just special … and then the full crowd was just cheering our name, so that was really special too,” junior setter Morgan Kealy said.
After the game, Pham reflected on the season. He struggled to get his words out – and choked up. He was asked what stood out from this squad.
“Those nine seniors, man. They put it out there,” Pham said.
He paused for a moment. “Our team is special in a lot of ways … I know losing sucks, and the goal is to win, but the purpose of our team is so much greater,” Pham said.
Schmidt and Kealy, who sat next to their coach after the game, elaborated on what it means to play for St. Thomas and their coaches. Pham even joked: “Do you want me to leave?” before both players responded.
“I really appreciate him as a coach. I think a lot of coaches can get really worked up in the moment … I think our demeanor can sometimes get really high and low, just in waves of the game. I just think he does a really good job of helping us stay consistent,” Schmidt said.
Kealy simply said, “I agree completely.”
Juan Del Valle can be reached at delv9625@stthomas.edu.
