Tommie volleyball to host NCAA regional

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The St. Thomas volleyball team (34-1) will begin its national tournament journey when it competes against Cornell College (Iowa) (20-10) 8 p.m. Thursday at home.

The NCAA volleyball first-round region schedules were announced Monday. The other six teams in St. Thomas’ regional are Dominican University (Ill.) (24-8), College of Saint Benedict (27-5), Northwestern College (26-8), Wisconsin-Stevens Point (29-7), Wartburg College (Iowa) (32-5), and Wisconsin-Eau Claire (25-11).

There will be four games played Thursday, two games Friday and the regional championship Saturday. The last time the Tommies hosted the tournament was in 2010.

<p>Middle blocker Kelly Foley cuts around the Blazers' double block for a kill. Foley was named MIAC Player of the Year last week (Sean Crotty/TommieMedia)</p>
Middle blocker Kelly Foley cuts around the Blazers' double block for a kill. Foley was named MIAC Player of the Year last week (Sean Crotty/TommieMedia)

Coach Thanh Pham, who was named MIAC Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his 10-year career with the Tommies, said his team will be prepared for its first regional game.

“We’ll practice hard like usual, and focus on the little things that we can use to control our side of the net,” Pham said.

The matchups for Thursday are as planned: Saint Benedict against Dominican University at 12:30 p.m., Northwestern College against Stevens Point at 3 p.m., and Wartburg College against Eau Claire at 5:30 p.m.

Pham said his team is looking forward to playing at home.

“There’s always (an) edge when you have great fans like we do,” Pham said. “We haven’t suffered any losses at home this year so we’re banking on the fans to come out and support us.”

For senior defensive specialist Kia Johnson, being able to play at home is especially exciting.

“I’m so pumped,” Johnson said. “We’ve worked really hard this year … it’s such a great honor to be able to play in front of our own fans.”

With a successful group of teams competing in the regional tournament, Pham said his team is expecting a challenge.

“All the teams are good,” Pham said. “We’ve beaten five out of eight, so we have a good chance of making it, but all the teams had at least twenty wins so they’re going to be good,” Pham said.

Under Pham, the Tommies have won seven conference titles and have made seven NCAA playoff appearances.

Jesse Krull and Tarkor Zehn contributed to this report.