A kill by junior middle blocker Maddison Harms of the University of South Dakota in the fourth set ended the Tommies final home game of it’s inaugural Division I season 3-1 Saturday at Schoenecker Arena.
The Summit ranked No. 9 Tommies (3-22, 2-13 Summit) extended their home losing streak to eight, while the third ranked Coyotes (15-8, 12-2 Summit) continued their five game winning streak. The last time the Tommies faced off against the Coyotes was on Oct. 6, where they lost 3-0.
South Dakota scored the first point of the match on an out of bounds call. The Tommies quickly bounced back with a kill by senior outside hitter Fran Egan, and then a kill from first year Lauren Galvin. Galvin led the team in kills tonight, with a total of 13 by the end of the game.
Both teams played a tight first set, before the Tommies broke away with a five point lead towards the end, giving the Tommies a 25-20 win off a block by Egan. It was also senior day for the Tommies, who celebrated the three seniors on the team, who all started the match this afternoon for the Tommies.
“I think just all of us being on the court at once really helped. The senior leadership was definitely there in the first set and in the whole match. And it was so much fun to go out there and play with my teammates tonight,” said Egan, who ended the night with eight kills.
David Ganser, assistant coach for St. Thomas, said that he’s seen the impact of the senior leadership on the team’s underclassmen.
“We’ve talked about the Tommie way, and we’ve been emphasising that and they show us that by not just how they speak, but how they act,” Ganser said. “They’ve taken a lot of freshmen and kind of shown them that Tommie way.”
In the second set, the Coyotes once again scored the first point off a kill, which was immediately returned by a kill from junior middle blocker Selena Levendoski. However, the Tommies began to trail by eight points in the latter half of the second set, before South Dakota senior middle blocker Maddie Wiedenfield ended the set 25-21 with a kill.
Senior setter Grace Anetipa scored the first point for the Tommies of the fourth set on a tip. The rest of the set was close, with neither the Tommies nor the Coyotes able to gain more than a two point lead on one another, until a kill by Wiedenfeld gave the Coyotes a 17-14 lead.
Anetipa, who ended the night with a total of 39 assists, her second highest number of assists this season, said that there were benefits to playing highly competitive teams, like the Coyotes.
“The ability to be able to play and be on the court going from DIII to DI is amazing,” Anetipa said. “Just building that culture and identity of Tommie volleyball for future teams and future players was our goal.”
As the Coyotes had 23 points in the fourth set, the Tommies cranked it up a notch and began to hold them off. At 23-19, South Dakota called a time out. Three out of bounds brought the Tommies closer to bridging the gap between them and the Coyotes, then brought them back to 23-22.
Levendoski tied the fourth set with a kill with a hit from a ball recovered off the net. A kill by South Dakota brought it to match point, before Harms ended the set 25-23 with a kill.
Senior libero Carrie Rutledge made an ace in the latter half of the fourth set. Rutledge said that playing her last game at Schoenecker Arena meant a lot to her.
“I was only part of this program for two years, but it’s bittersweet. There’s a lot of emotions that go into it. We’ve worked so hard, and practiced every single day, and to have it pay off and all that is just bittersweet.” said Rutledge.
The Tommies face off against Kansas City (17-9, 8-6 Summit) in Kansas City, Missouri on Thursday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m. The Jackrabbits beat the Tommies in all three sets the last time they played Oct. 16.
Owen Larson can be reached at lars6521@stthomas.edu.