Senior libero Meghan Mazzola had 16 digs leading the St. Thomas women’s volleyball team to a 3-0 win over MIAC opponent Concordia-Moorhead Friday night at Schoenecker Arena.
Offensive power and serving runs dominated the game for the Tommies (3-2, 3-2 MIAC) who had 42 kills and 11 aces on the night. St. Thomas only trailed the Cobbers (0-8, 0-6 MIAC) once after losing the first point of the third set.
“Going in, we finally just played how we practice, which is just going for every ball, having a good block up and swinging hard,” Mazzola said.
Mazzola rattled off six straight points while serving to begin the second and added one ace on the night.
“It’s always fun to be on a serving run,” Mazzola said. “I feel like in a lot of those situations you don’t even look at the score.”
Coach Thanh Pham said he wasn’t looking at the score either and that tonight’s win is a product of hard work at practice.
“The girls have been practicing really hard the last couple weeks and it’s just evidence that what they’re doing in practice is translating to the game,” Pham said.
A few late runs by the Cobbers in the second and third sets kept things close, as they narrowed an 11 point deficit down to four near the end of the third set.
However, the Tommies’ offense was too much as kills by junior setter Grace Anetipa and junior outside hitter Fran Egan put the game away.
The Tommies have won their last six sets straight by a combined total of 45 points.
“We’re just thankful to play,” Pham said. ”You can see they have tremendous effort, and whether they win or lose, I’m just proud of how they’re playing.”
The Tommies take on Gustavus Adolphus College Saturday at 3 p.m. in the final game of the shortened spring season at Schoenecker Arena.
“There’s just a lot of pride associated with it (her final collegiate game), so I think you just want to go out strong on your home court,” Mazzola said.
Cam Kauffman can be reached at kauf8536@stthomas.edu.