Senior leadership from setter Grace Anetipa and libero Carrie Rutledge led an unrelenting St. Thomas volleyball team through a 3-1 home loss to South Dakota State Friday that coach Thanh Pham called both encouraging and deflating.
The match, which was South Dakota State’s (15-9, 7-6 Summit) first road win of the year, showed a measurable shift from the Jackrabbits’ sweep of the Tommies (3-21, 2-12 Summit) on Oct. 9.
“The previous matchup, they blew us out of the water,” Pham said. “It wasn’t even close. And tonight, for us to take a set and to push them in the third set, it says a lot about the heart of this team.”
Anetipa, who was out for the last South Dakota State matchup, had 34 assists and five kills and aced crucial back-to-back serves during the Tommies’ third-set comeback attempt.
“We have it in us, and I think that’s really important to remember,” Anetipa said. “We’ve developed into some really great leaders out there, and people look to us, especially with all the freshmen.”
St. Thomas came out with energy to take the first set 25-21, decorated by eight kills from first-year outside hitter Lauren Galvin.
The Tommies trailed for the entirety of sets two and three, which were marked by serve receive and communication errors. The Jackrabbits had seven aces to take set two 25-15, and they managed to keep the Tommies at bay in a 27-25 third-set battle.
“We had quite a few broken plays, and it’s tough without practice to build chemistry with those broken plays, but that’s an area we feel like we can improve on,” Pham said. “Another area is good, aggressive serving, so we’ll focus on those areas tomorrow.”
St. Thomas lost its lead halfway through the fourth set, and South Dakota State outside hitter Crystal Burk sealed the game with a kill to force match point. Burk, who leads the Summit League in kills and garnered 13 kills in the previous matchup, collected a team-high 15 on Friday night.
St. Thomas looks forward to its last home game and senior day on Saturday, Nov. 6 against South Dakota. The game is symbolic for Tommie seniors, who had to lead young players through an inaugural Division I season after three years of Division III.
“Last home game on this court, and last time to do it with us seniors,” Rutledge said. “I’m excited to get out there and play hard, and play as a team, and see what we can do.”
Mia Laube can be reached at mia.laube@stthomas.edu.