All-MIAC middle blocker Kelly Foley tallied a season-high 21 kills as the St. Thomas women’s volleyball team defeated St. Mary’s University 3-1 Thursday, securing its spot in the MIAC championship.
The No. 4-ranked Tommies (27-2) eliminated the Cardinals (24-9) from the MIAC tournament, ending St. Mary’s season.
Foley, who was named MIAC volleyball’s player of the year for the second season in a row Wednesday, said her dominating offense starts with the team’s dynamic play.
“I think the whole team did well as a unit,” Foley said. “I can only do well if my passers are on and if my sets are on, so I’m really proud of everyone for really stepping it up.”
Outside hitter Jill Greenfield helped start the first set strong with a pressed solo block to snag a 7-6 advantage over the Cardinals. Battling back and forth to establish the lead, opposite hitter Sara Atkinson thumped a cross-court kill, putting the score at 10-10.
Atkinson had six kills on the night, but the Tommies couldn’t pull out with the set win as the Cardinals came out on top at 25-22.
Coach Thanh Pham said the MIAC tournament raises the stakes for each match.
“It’s playoff volleyball, and in playoff volleyball, teams are going to fight with everything they’ve got,” Pham said. “St. Mary’s took the first set from us, and they played extremely well. We needed to step up our game, and thankfully we did.”
With the Cardinals up a set, Greenfield took control of the second set’s momentum with her crafty tip to put a 3-1 score on the board. Greenfield racked up 15 of the team’s 59 total kills. Outside hitter McKenna Reagan kept the team surging ahead when she pummeled a kill from the back row—one of her 27 on the night.
Then Atkinson put one away down the line to seal the 25-20 second-set victory.
Reagan said despite the team’s first-set upset, the second set was a fresh slate.
“I don’t think it affected us that much. We knew that we had played really hard,” Reagan said. “Usually if we drop a set it’s because we weren’t playing well, but we knew we’re playing hard. We just had to execute and minimize our errors.”
Carrying the second-set energy into the third, middle blocker Paige Brimeyer tooled a Cardinal block, pushing the score to 9-5. Brimeyer contributed seven kills for the Tommies. Middle blocker Mackenzie Piechowski got up on a set, pounding it just past the 10-foot line to put the Tommies at a 23-15 lead over the Cardinals. The set ended in the Tommies’ favor, 25-15.
For Foley, the match’s intensity showed the reality of playoff volleyball.
“It’s really different from now on,” Foley said. “Every team is fighting for their last game. They want to keep going, so when we beat teams from now on, we’re pretty much usually ending their season. Every team is going to bring it 100 percent, and we really need to be on top of our game if we want to match that.”
With two sets under their belts, the Tommies attacked in the last set. Brimeyer stepped up offensively when she cut around the Cardinal block for a kill, locking in a 13-10 Tommie lead. Atkinson stood out offensively when she broke through the Tommie block for a 23-22 advantage.
It wasn’t until Foley put away one last kill that the Cardinals’ fate was sealed. The Tommies’ 25-23 win pushed them past the Cardinals and into the MIAC championship game.
The Tommies will challenge the College of St. Benedict for the MIAC title Saturday at Schoenecker Arena.
For Pham, pulling out the win in the championship game comes down to one thing.
“Play hard,” Pham said. “Just play hard.”
Sean Crotty can be reached at crot0230@stthomas.edu.