St. Thomas volleyball began NCAA tournament play with a four set win on their home court over Dubuque University (IA) Thursday night.

After a tough second set the Tommies (30-4) settled down and got back into their groove winning the final two sets that sent them into the second round.

The game was scheduled for 8:00 p.m. but didn’t start until around 9:15 p.m.

“It kind of stung playing at 9:00 p.m. because we were fired up all day,” said sophomore OH Fran Egan, “But I love this team and playing on a bigger stage especially at home was super cool.”

Ellie Meyer led the charge in the first set with several impressive digs from hard-hitting attack Darby Hawtrey as the Tommies dominated the first set 25-13.

Dubuque (22-11) struck back in the second as they pulled away late in the set to take it 25-20.

“After that first dominating set, I could feel that our girls were a little complacent,” coach Thanh Pham said. “So I reminded them that Dubuque is a tournament-worthy team.”

After trailing 17-11 the Tommies inched their way back to knot up the score at 22, propelling them to a 25-23 third set victory.

The Tommies took hold of the fourth set from the get-go, winning 25-13 as they defeated Dubuque in four sets to advance to the second round.

“Super proud of our girls, how they could gut out a win,” Pham said. “We weren’t on tonight but to beat a really good team and advance is what we were looking for.”

St. Thomas will take on Wisconsin-Stevens Point on Friday at 7:00 p.m.

Joey Swanson can be reached at swan5350@stthomas.edu.