The St. Thomas volleyball team’s 2016 season came to an end with a 3-0 loss to Wisconsin-La Crosse Thursday in the opening round of the NCAA tournament at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul.
“I’m extremely proud of my girls,” St. Thomas coach Thanh Pham. “They battled through a lot of adversity, and to be where they are now speaks volumes of their character.”
The Tommies (22-9 overall, 9-2 MIAC) matched 15th-ranked Eagles (23-5 overall, 5-2 WIAC) point-for-point to start the match until La Crosse closed the first set on a 14-7 run, winning it 25-18.
The second set was tightly contested as neither team led by more than four points.
Facing set point 24-22, the Tommies fought off many Eagle attacks. Ellie Meyer and Madie Kroehler each had multiple digs on the play with Whitney Lloyd leading the counterattack for St. Thomas. Unfortunately for the Tommies, La Crosse was able to tip the ball between Meyer and Kroehler to win the point and the set 25-22.
The third set looked like it was going to be over in a hurry as La Crosse jumped out to a 10-1 lead before Pham called a timeout.
Following the timeout, the Tommies responded with a 10-3 run of their own to make it 13-11. Later in the set, St. Thomas was able to tie the score at 21 apiece on a Taylor Lewis block. However, the comeback could not be completed as the Eagles won four of the final six points, securing the set 25-23 and the match 3-0.
“It was unfortunate that we were down 10-1 to one of the top 15 teams in the country but to battle back and almost pull it out, I couldn’t be more proud,” Pham said.
Lewis, who had eight kills for the Tommies against the Eagles, credited the depth of the team with its success.
“After last year, I think people weren’t expecting us to come back as strong as we did this year,” Lewis said. “I’m so proud of everyone for pulling through.”
The Tommies finish 2016 22-9, a large improvement over a 9-17 season in 2015.
“It’s always sad to end a season but our seniors left us with a very solid foundation for our future,” Pham said.
Taylor Smith can be reached at smit9660@stthomas.edu.