St. Thomas represents in fall NCAA playoffs

The St. Thomas volleyball team and the men’s and women’s soccer teams qualified for their respective NCAA playoffs. Here’s what you need to know.

Men’s Soccer

The St. Thomas men’s soccer team earned home field advantage in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs and seeks to continue the most successful season in program history against St. Scholastica at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 12.121127_Miac_roundup

Luther College of Iowa and St. Norbert College of Wisconsin are also scheduled to play at 1:30 p.m. The winners of these two matches will duel 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13 for their chance to advance to the next round of the tournament.

The Tommies claimed the regular season conference title and the program’s first solo MIAC title in 25 years with a 1-0 victory over Macalester at home in the conference title game last Saturday.

Women’s Soccer

The St. Thomas women’s soccer team earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Division III playoffs and will compete against Loras (Iowa) on the road at 7:30 p.m. in Whitewater, Wisconsin, on Saturday, Nov. 12.

Top-seed University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and the University of Minnesota-Morris are scheduled to face off at 5 p.m. Saturday’s winners will advance to Sunday’s match at 5 p.m.

Augsburg defeated St. Thomas 1-0 last Saturday in the MIAC women’s soccer championship game at the Tommies’ South Campus field. The Auggies received an automatic bid for winning the MIAC championship.

Volleyball

An at-large bid has advanced the St. Thomas volleyball team into the NCAA Division III tournament and it will open the first round 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10 against University of Wisconsin – La Crosse at Northwestern in St. Paul.

The Eagles defeated the Tommies 3-1 at an Augsburg tournament in September.

The Tommies fell to Gustavus 3-2 in the conference playoff semifinals despite winning the first two games last Thursday night in St. Peter. The Gusties went on to win their second straight MIAC playoff championship.

Carolyn Meyer can be reached at meye0268@stthomas.edu.