Led by an 18-kill performance by sophomore outside hitter Lauren Galvin, the St. Thomas volleyball team started off with a first-set win against Summit League No. 3 South Dakota before dropping three straight sets in a 3-1 loss Thursday at Schoenecker Arena.
The first-set win marked the Tommies’ (2-16, 0-5 Summit) first home-set win of the season and second overall.
“We started off with a lot of energy, and I was very proud of our team for dealing with a lot of adversity,” coach Thanh Pham said. “We had some kids playing out of position due to some injury; we have some kids playing hurt right now, and I couldn’t be more proud of the effort that they put forth.”
As the Tommies were missing two of their usual go-to middle blockers in sophomore Lander Friederichs and junior Ellie Dammann, the game seemed like it might go in the highly-ranked Coyotes’ (15-2, 4-1) way from the beginning. However, the Tommies started the first set ready, capitalizing on 14 attacking errors by South Dakota.
As the Tommies fell to a 16-12 deficit, Galvin and her team kept pushing on the Coyotes to bring it to a 25-all tie to force extra play. A timely block by St. Thomas junior opposite hitter Claire Ricard, followed by a kill by Galvin, set up the Tommies for the final blow as the Coyotes returned a ball far out of bounds to give the St. Thomas the 28-26 set win.
“Taking a set off of them, I think really meant a lot and playing well against them, stopping them a lot of the time, meant a lot,” Galvin said.
Ricard was “playing out of position,” according to Pham, as she played middle blocker for the first time since her sophomore year of high school. However, Ricard still managed one kill and three blocks assisted in the match.
After the first set, South Dakota battled back as junior outside hitter Elizabeth Juhnke lit up the court in the remaining three sets. Juhnke, who was recently named September’s Summit League peak Performer of the Month, had 19 kills and 10 digs in the game.
“She’s a great representation of what the Summit League is all about with hard work and great execution,” Pham said.
Graduate student defensive specialist Carrie Rutledge said her team was ready for the challenge Juhnke posed.
“Definitely need to just embrace it and know that they are going to be good, hard hitters,” Rutledge said. “Just being able to get in there, see the hitter and be ready to take it … really helps set the offense up.”
The Tommies managed to keep it close in the remaining sets, but Galvin said the Tommies “lost a little bit of composure” and could not take another set from South Dakota.
“They got a few more runs on us than they did in the first set,” Galvin said. “Other than that, I felt like the effort was there, the aggressiveness was there, but we just lost ourselves a few times in those sets.”
Rutledge also reached a major milestone in her final season as a Tommie, surpassing 500 career digs after earning 22 against the Coyotes.
“That means a lot to be a part of Tommie volleyball and to meet that milestone,” Rutledge said.
Despite the loss, Pham said his team’s effort and preparation paid off.
“It just goes to show that we’ve been working hard in the gym and trying to improve every day,” Pham said.
In an effort to break their 13-game losing streak, the Tommies take on South Dakota State Saturday, Oct. 8 at noon. Saturday’s game will be the Tommies’ last home game before a four-game road stretch.
“We’re ready to take on another team, especially after all the effort that we put into this one and getting a set off of these guys,” Galvin said. “I think we can go in confident and, with all the film we’ve been watching, be ready.”
Cam Kauffman can be reached at kauf8536@stthomas.edu.