Sophomore hitter Lauren Galvin’s 11-kill performance led both teams, but it was not enough as the St. Thomas volleyball team fell three sets to none against Kansas City Thursday at Schoenecker Arena.
The Tommies (4-25, 2-15 Summit League) took the first set over 25 points, showing fight against the Roos (9-21, 6-11) after a 3-0 sweep over Western Illinois last Saturday. Whatever spark was there petered out going into the second and third.
“I feel like we are competing with teams and staying in matches longer,” coach Thanh Pham said. “However, we’re not able to quite pull out those wins.”
St. Thomas started strong with a near-block that first-year blocker Emma Goerger killed to open scoring. Goerger totaled four kills in the set alongside Galvin’s five in the first set.
“We came out as we normally do on first sets and played really hard and aggressive,” Pham said. “We seemed to lose steam between one and two and then even more between two and three, but it’s part of growing pains.”
The second set went back and forth until Kansas City went on a seven-point run, burying the Tommies 17-11. The Tommies managed nine more points, but could not catch up to the Roos, losing the set 25-20.
“We’re a streaky team,” Pham said. “Every coach wants more.”
Kansas City left no room for a comeback in the third set, shutting down the Tommies with an 11-to-1 run to round out the match. The Tommies lost the third set 25-15.
“If we can be in the moment rather than worrying about what happened last point or what might happen next, we’re going to stay in the point and really grind,” Pham said.
St. Thomas volleyball rounds out its season Saturday, Nov. 19 at home against Oral Roberts at noon.
Sam Larson can be reached at lars4378@stthomas.edu.