Tommie Sports - Volleyball

Volleyball moves to No. 5 in national poll

October 07, 2008

The St. Thomas volleyball team moved up to No. 5 in this week's AVCA Division III national rankings. Coach Thanh Pham's team, 17-1 overall, ran its MIAC unbeaten streak to 19 and season win string to 16 with three home sweeps last weekend . They Tommies beat UW-Eau Claire, No. 24 Gustavus, and St. Catherine, all by 3-0 margins.

It's the third best national volleyball ranking for an MIAC team in the last 11 seasons. In 2006, Concordia-Moorhead got as high as No. 3 and UST reached Action pic No. 4.

The Tommies, 5-0 in the conference, play Wednesday night at Bethel.

This Friday and Saturday, St. Thomas hosts the Minnesota-Iowa Border Battle, which features No. 6 UST, No. 15 Concordia and No. 22 St. Ben’s. Iowa Conference leader Simpson and perennial power Central are also in the field. The top four MIAC finishers from 2007 play the Iowa Conference’s top four from last season, with two Friday matches and two Saturday matches. UST is 10-2 in this tournament in its three-year history.

Senior Katie McCaffrey now has 1,038 career kills. Senior Katie Kremer now has 2,231 digs on her career in 406 games and needs 47 to become the MIAC career leader. The Tommie seniors have helped UST post a 103-20 record in their era.

PHOTO: Kyley Crotty (left), Katie McCaffrey

MIAC Career Digs

(Games/Player/School/Yrs)

2,277 Brenda Bliese, St. Olaf (1993-1996)

2,238 (400 gm) Laura Zwach, St. Benedict (2003-2006)

2,231(403 games) Katie Kremer, St. Thomas (2005-present)

2,202 (522 gm) Tina Churchill, Carleton (1985-1988)

2,044, Emily Klein, Gustavus (2005-present)

2,037 May Lin Kessenich, Macalester (2001-2004)

1,868 (469 gm) Rachelle Dosch, St. Thomas (2003-2006

1,817 (491 gm) Kristin Stoneberg, Bethel (2000-2003)

1,799 (466 gm) Kimmie Moehring, Bethel (2002-2005)