St. Thomas volleyball defeated the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks 3-1 (25-18, 29-27, 23-25, 25-19) on Saturday at Schoenecker Arena in front of a crowd of 520 people, as freshman outside hitter Ellie Gustafson led the Tommies with 17 kills and 21 points.
The Fighting Hawks (6-18, 3-9 Summit League) had previously swept the Tommies 0-3 at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks, N.D. on Sept. 29. St. Thomas (6-17, 2-10 Summit League) returned the favor, though the teams remained relatively evenly matched statistically.
“Our conference is so well-balanced that I feel like any team can beat any team,” coach Thanh Pham said. “When we played up there, it was just their night, and tonight happened to be ours.”
The Tommies made a strong showing in the middle of the first set, earning 10 consecutive points that allowed them to pull away for a 25-18 win, led by aggressive double blocks by Gustafson and sophomore outside hitter Tezra Rudzitis at the net and assisted by freshman setter Morgan Kealy.
The team established a 19-12 lead in the second set, though the Fighting Hawks fought back with a series of kills that tied the score at 22-22. Each team traded shots, with St. Thomas playing catch-up to North Dakota until a block from Gustafson and senior middle blocker Ellie Dammann put an end to the nail-biting action 29-27.
“We just have to stay calm and focus on the process,” Gustafson said. “It starts with a pass, get a good set, be strong with our swings and stay calm.”
More back-and-forth in the third set similarly tied both teams at 22-22. While a kill from Dammann brought the team closer to a sweep, the Fighting Hawks capitalized on several attack errors to continue to a fourth set.
“I give credit to UND; they’re a really good team, big and physical, and it just made us doubt ourselves just enough where they came out and won that set,” Pham said. “After talking with the girls, we had a strong start in the fourth set that led us to victory.”
The Tommies held North Dakota at a distance throughout the fourth set after gaining an initial three-point lead. The Fighting Hawks picked up four points in a row with several blocks and a kill by freshman outside hitter Paige Barber to bring the score to 22-18, but St. Thomas stayed aggressive and closed out the match with a 25-19 victory.
“In that last set we took big swings at the end, and that’s part of trusting each other and trusting that if we get blocked we’re going to be there to pick it back up,” Rudzitis said.
The Tommies will face the University of South Dakota at home on Thursday, Nov. 2 for Youth Volleyball Night.
Kevin Lynch can be reached at lync1832@stthomas.edu.