Volleyball smashes St. Mary’s 3-0

The St. Thomas volleyball team (25-3, 7-1) continued its winning streak picking up its 12th consecutive win Friday night against St. Mary’s University (15-13 overall, 1-7 MIAC).

The No. 11-ranked Tommies beat the Cardinals in three games. This was St. Thomas’ first home match since Oct. 8.

St. Thomas took the first game 25-17 after an intense battle.

“We started off a little slow, but St. Mary’s is a really good program, and that was a really good team,” said coach Thanh Pham.

The second game was the closest with the Tommies winning 25-20.

Senior Ashley Maher was pleased with the team’s performance but said the team continues to work on improving.

“Tonight’s game was pretty good. I think we handled them well, but we have a lot to work on as a team for future games,” Maher said.

Junior Kaitlain Wachter added that the team could “definitely work on coming together as a team.”

St. Thomas took the third game easily winning 25-8.

“We were able to weather the storm and come out with a win, so overall I’m very pleased with how the girls performed,” Pham said.

There is a four-way tie in the MIAC for first place between St. Ben’s, Bethel, Concordia and St. Thomas.

Maher, a first-year starter, was named MIAC Setter-Libero of the Week on Monday.

“It’s very exciting, but I couldn’t do it without awesome passes and awesome kills,” Maher said of the honor. “It’s really a team effort.”

Junior Kaitlain Wachter and senior Taylor Cross have also been named MIAC players of the week this season.

The Tommies play Augsburg at 5 p.m. Saturday in Minneapolis.

Jessica Barton can be reached at bart2049@stthomas.edu.