University of St. Thomas Athletics
Thursday, September 25
St. Paul, Minn.
7:00 p.m. CT
vs
Kansas City
Photo by: Collin Boyles
Tommie Volleyball’s Summit schedule begins versus Roos and Mavericks
9/24/2025 9:20:00 AM | Volleyball
St. Thomas to host Kansas City and Omaha Sept. 25-27 in Schoenecker Arena
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The 2025 Summit League schedule is finally upon St. Thomas Volleyball as the team prepares to host Kansas City and Omaha during its home-opening weekend. The Tommies begin league play at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25 against the Roos before a 12 p.m. first-serve on Saturday, Sept. 27 against the Mavericks in Schoenecker Arena.
Live Media
Live Stats: vs Kansas City | vs Omaha
Stream/Live Video: Summit League Network
Series History
St. Thomas and Kansas City began the series with the Tommies' transition to Division I in 2021 as the Roos took the first six matches. The Purple have since put up back-to-back sweeps over UMKC, sweeping the 2024 season series. St. Thomas held Kansas City below 18 points over the first two sets of both 2024 meetings, while the third sets of both were within at least four points. Tezra Rudzitis and Megan Wetter led the Tommies in kills during both of last season's meetings, led by Wetter with 11 in Kansas City and by Rudzitis with 12 in St. Paul. Ella Voegele averaged 6.0 digs per set on the road while Morgan Kealy recorded a double-double of 33 assists and 12 digs at home.
St. Thomas has yet to find its first program win over Omaha, going 0-8 over the past four seasons in the series. The Mavericks are the only Summit League team the Tommies have yet to beat since joining the league in 2021. UNO has earned three consecutive sweeps over St. Thomas, with the Tommies pushing the Mavericks to five sets on the road during the first of two matches in 2023. The Purple struggled to hit against Omaha, attacking below .160 in both matches, while Kealy recorded a double-double of 24 assists and 11 digs in St. Paul.
Ready to Dance
With the transition in the rear-view mirror, St. Thomas is beginning its first season as a postseason-tournament-eligible program within NCAA Division I. That includes the Summit League tournament, in which the Tommies were not able to participate over the four-season transition period. Initially a five-year transition period, the NCAA Division I Council voted in January in favor of a reduction to the department's provisional period from five to four years. The NCAA later announced in June that St. Thomas had completed its reclassification process and is fully eligible to compete in postseason play, including the Summit League Tournament hosted Nov. 23-25 in Brookings, S.D.
700/.700
Head Coach Thanh Pham coached his 700th match with the Tommies to close the Bryant Invitational on Sept. 13, a 3-1 win over Stony Brook to extend the team's winning streak to six. Pham became one of 23 active head coach among all of NCAA with at least 700 matches coached and a .700 winning percentage at one program. He's 27th in total wins among active DI coaches (456 wins at DIII level). Coach Pham is the longest tenured head coach within the Summit League, the next longest tenured being Kansas City head coach Kristi Posey whose first season was 2011.
Ranking Top 50 Nationally
Heading into conference play, St. Thomas ranks among the top 50 nationally in four categories: 13th in kills per set (14.38), 24th in attacks per set (36.92), 31st in aces per set (1.95), and 41st in assists per set (12.62). Individually, Megan Wetter ranks 31st in the country with a .416 hitting percentage, hitting above .407 in six of the last eight matches. Just outside the top 50 is Morgan Kealy with 9.56 assists per set. She has averaged at least 9.0 assists per set in seven of 11 matches and has six double-doubles.
Another B1G Win
St. Thomas came away with the program's second win against a Power Four school all-time as it swept Northwestern (25-15, 25-17, 25-20) in Evanston, Ill., to begin the Northwestern Invitational, handing the Wildcats just their second loss of the season. It was the first sweep NU had allowed over a 15-match span. Senior Tezra Rudzitis and freshman Anya Schmidt were named to the All-Tournament Team while senior Megan Wetter totaled 17 kills on a .517 hitting percentage against Northwestern. St. Thomas' first Power Four win came a season ago over Iowa, 3-1 (25-19, 25-23, 24-26, 25-19), at the Panther Invitational in Milwaukee, Wis.
2K(ealy) Assists
Junior setter Morgan Kealy continues to direct the Tommie offense as she surpassed 2,000 career assists during the sweep over Northwestern. She is second in the Summit League with 373 total assists this season (9.56 per set) and is second in active career assists (2,061) among all Summit League setters, trailing only Avery Van Hook from South Dakota (2,594).
100 Stuffs
Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Addie Schmotzer took 37 matches to reach 100 career blocks with the Tommies, recording stuff number 100 on her second block of the sweep at Northwestern on Sept. 18. She totaled 82 during her redshirt freshman campaign, while her 21 career solo blocks (13 in 2024) rank tied for second for the program during the DI era, trailing only Megan Wetter with 38.
Digging Her Way Up
Senior libero Ella Voegele continues to rack up the digs and is ranked eighth among all active NCAA DI athletes and 31st among active athletes in all divisions for total digs, entering the week with 1,535. In addition, she ranks sixth among all DI athletes in career digs per set with 4.42. She began her career at UNC-Greensboro with 454 digs as a freshman before following up with 432 as a sophomore at St. Thomas and a single-season best 506 as a junior. Her 2023 and 2024 season performances are the best for the program since joining DI in 2021, surpassing Carrie Rutledge's marks in 2021 (310) and 2022 (338).
2-of-3 for the Tommie Offense
Senior middle blocker Megan Wetter made it two-for-three for the Tommies after being named the Summit League Offensive Player of the Week. Teammate and senior opposite hitter Tezra Rudzitis earned the offensive award following the opening weekend of the season. Wetter has now won the award twice in her career while it's the seventh overall player of the week honor for the program since 2023. She earned the recognition after being named to the Bryant Invitational All-Tournament Team, where she powered the Tommies to a 3-0 weekend with wins over Army, Bryant, and Stony Brook. Wetter averaged 3.82 kills per set, 4.41 points per set, and hit .536 while recording at least 12 kills and a .400 attack percentage in every match.
Dominating Non-Conference Play
St. Thomas won seven straight matches following its sweep over the Big Ten's Northwestern (25-15, 25-17, 25-20), marking its longest winning streak since joining Division I in 2021. The Tommies won their second straight tournament title with three all-tournament team selections in both tournaments, including both tournament MVPs in Ellie Gustafson (Molly Howard-Gerwig Memorial Invitational) and Ella Voegele (Bryant Invitational). After going 7-29 through the program's first 13 non-conference tournaments of the DI era, the Tommies have now gone 15-4 through the previous seven tournaments dating back to Sept. 5, 2024. During that span, St. Thomas has gone 15-1 through six of those tournaments with the majority of the losses coming at the Golden Gopher Invitational to start this season.
Program's New DI Blocking Leader
Megan Wetter became the program's DI-era leader in career blocks during the Bryant Invitational, totaling seven total blocks over three matches with the final two blocks putting her at 201 for her career. She's the second Tommie to surpass the 200-block mark during the DI era, joining Ellie Dammann (2021-23) who finished her career with 200. With 28 total blocks in 2025, Wetter currently has 204 in her career.
Tops in the Summit League
St. Thomas is the only program in the Summit League to rank among the top two in the conference in each of points per set (1st/17.79), hitting percentage (1st/.260), kills per set (1st/14.38), service aces (1st/1.95), and assists per set (2nd/12.62). In addition, the Tommies also rank fourth with 15.18 digs per set. On the defensive end, St. Thomas ranks among the top three in opponent assists per set (2nd/10.62), blocks per set (2nd/1.68), kills per set (3rd/11.77), and aces per set (1.38).
All-Around Power
Of the top 12 individuals among the league in kills per set, three programs have multiple athletes on the list. While Omaha and South Dakota each have two among the top 12, St. Thomas features four athletes including freshman Anya Schmidt (6th/3.10), senior Tezra Rudzitis (7th/3.08), senior Megan Wetter (9th/2.92), and junior Ellie Gustafson (12th/2.74). Since 2021, St. Thomas has not had three athletes average 2.65 k/s or better during the same season.
Ace Ace Baby
Freshman outside hitter Anya Schmidt has not only made her mark at the net but also at the serving line. She began the Bryant Invitational with five service aces against Army, tying the program's DI single-match record, before breaking that mark with six aces to close the tournament against Stony Brook. Three Tommies previously totaled five service aces since 2022: Emma Goerger in 2022, and Tezra Rudzitis and Megan Wetter in 2023.
Season-Opening Double-Digit Kill Streak
Junior outside hitter Ellie Gustafson opened the 2025 campaign with six straight double-digit kill performances, becoming the first Tommie to do so since Taylor Lewis in 2016 (11 straight). The streak, which came to an end to start the Bryant Invitational, was also the longest of the Division I era, surpassing Lauren Galvin's three-match run to begin 2023. Gustafson is second on the team with 2.97 kills per set (98 kills). She posted a season-high 16 kills against Ball State, added two 14-kill outings, and recorded 10 kills in three additional matches to begin the season.
High Preseason Praise
After finishing third in the Summit League standings a season ago, the Tommies were picked to finish third in the 2025 Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll. It's the highest preseason selection since joining the league in 2021. St. Thomas totaled 48 points behind South Dakota State with 62 points and 6 first-place votes and South Dakota with 57 points and 3 first-place votes. Setter Morgan Kealy and middle blocker Megan Wetter were named the program's Players to Watch.
Loaded on the Upper End
What Tommie Volleyball lacked to start the Division I era has now become a strength of the team: 14 of the team's 21 athletes are upperclassmen. Among the upperclassmen, nine are seniors with seven being a part of the program over each of the past four seasons. Kaitlynn Peterson and Ella Voegele transferred into the program before the 2023 season. Of the nine seniors on the roster, all but one call the state of Minnesota home as the eight are from within 45 miles of the St. Thomas campus.
Veteran Leadership
Head Coach Thanh Pham enters his 23rd season leading St. Thomas, the longest-tenured head coach in the Summit League. He is set to coach in his 700th career match this season. Pham's culture and patience paid off during the final season of transition as the Tommies put together their most successful Division I campaign. The Purple finished 18-12 overall, becoming just the sixth transitioning program since 2011 to reach at least 18 wins and the first since 2018.
With the exit of 2012 St. Thomas Hall of Fame top assistant coach Joy Tietz, Pham added Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Jackie Richter, a Minnesota prep coaching legend, as the next top assistant. Richter most recently served as the head coach at Lakeville North High School where she won the 2017 Minnesota State Championship during four state tournament appearances. She was twice named Minnesota State Coach of the Year (2017, 2022) and was a Minnesota Sports Awards Coach of the Year finalist (2018).
Rudzit-Is the Player of the Week
Senior opposite Tezra Rudzitis earned her first career Summit League Offensive Player of the Week honor after a standout opening weekend at the Golden Gopher Invitational. She became just the third Tommie in the Division I era to open a season with three straight double-digit kill matches, averaging 3.58 kills per set on a .305 attack percentage. Rudzitis posted 14 kills against Ball State, hit .550 with 11 kills against Cal Poly, and tied her career high with 18 kills against No. 11 Minnesota. She totaled 45.0 points across three matches, adding three blocks, and was also named to the All-Tournament Team. The honor marks the third Summit League offensive weekly award and sixth overall in program history.
Taking 1 from No. 11
St. Thomas battled No. 11 Minnesota to four sets in a 3-1 loss, marking the program's first-ever set victory against a nationally ranked opponent. Rudzitis tied her career high with 18 kills on .263 hitting, capping a weekend that earned her Golden Gopher Invitational All-Tournament Team honors. Freshman outside Anya Schmidt posted her first career double-double with 12 kills and 12 digs, while junior Ellie Gustafson recorded her third straight double-digit kill match to open the season.
Summit League Network
All home Tommie Volleyball matches, and all Summit League matches, will be streamed exclusively on the Summit League Network, in partnership with Midco Sports. A subscription-based network, viewers can access all St. Thomas athletics events HERE.
Follow Along
For more information on St. Thomas Volleyball, follow along on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram at @tommievball. Tommie Athletics is now available on TikTok at @TommieSports.
Join Us
To reserve your seat to be a part of the Tommies' 2025 season, click HERE to view ticketing information and purchase options.
-- St. Thomas Athletics --
Live Media
Live Stats: vs Kansas City | vs Omaha
Stream/Live Video: Summit League Network
Series History
St. Thomas and Kansas City began the series with the Tommies' transition to Division I in 2021 as the Roos took the first six matches. The Purple have since put up back-to-back sweeps over UMKC, sweeping the 2024 season series. St. Thomas held Kansas City below 18 points over the first two sets of both 2024 meetings, while the third sets of both were within at least four points. Tezra Rudzitis and Megan Wetter led the Tommies in kills during both of last season's meetings, led by Wetter with 11 in Kansas City and by Rudzitis with 12 in St. Paul. Ella Voegele averaged 6.0 digs per set on the road while Morgan Kealy recorded a double-double of 33 assists and 12 digs at home.
St. Thomas has yet to find its first program win over Omaha, going 0-8 over the past four seasons in the series. The Mavericks are the only Summit League team the Tommies have yet to beat since joining the league in 2021. UNO has earned three consecutive sweeps over St. Thomas, with the Tommies pushing the Mavericks to five sets on the road during the first of two matches in 2023. The Purple struggled to hit against Omaha, attacking below .160 in both matches, while Kealy recorded a double-double of 24 assists and 11 digs in St. Paul.
Ready to Dance
With the transition in the rear-view mirror, St. Thomas is beginning its first season as a postseason-tournament-eligible program within NCAA Division I. That includes the Summit League tournament, in which the Tommies were not able to participate over the four-season transition period. Initially a five-year transition period, the NCAA Division I Council voted in January in favor of a reduction to the department's provisional period from five to four years. The NCAA later announced in June that St. Thomas had completed its reclassification process and is fully eligible to compete in postseason play, including the Summit League Tournament hosted Nov. 23-25 in Brookings, S.D.
700/.700
Head Coach Thanh Pham coached his 700th match with the Tommies to close the Bryant Invitational on Sept. 13, a 3-1 win over Stony Brook to extend the team's winning streak to six. Pham became one of 23 active head coach among all of NCAA with at least 700 matches coached and a .700 winning percentage at one program. He's 27th in total wins among active DI coaches (456 wins at DIII level). Coach Pham is the longest tenured head coach within the Summit League, the next longest tenured being Kansas City head coach Kristi Posey whose first season was 2011.
Ranking Top 50 Nationally
Heading into conference play, St. Thomas ranks among the top 50 nationally in four categories: 13th in kills per set (14.38), 24th in attacks per set (36.92), 31st in aces per set (1.95), and 41st in assists per set (12.62). Individually, Megan Wetter ranks 31st in the country with a .416 hitting percentage, hitting above .407 in six of the last eight matches. Just outside the top 50 is Morgan Kealy with 9.56 assists per set. She has averaged at least 9.0 assists per set in seven of 11 matches and has six double-doubles.
Another B1G Win
St. Thomas came away with the program's second win against a Power Four school all-time as it swept Northwestern (25-15, 25-17, 25-20) in Evanston, Ill., to begin the Northwestern Invitational, handing the Wildcats just their second loss of the season. It was the first sweep NU had allowed over a 15-match span. Senior Tezra Rudzitis and freshman Anya Schmidt were named to the All-Tournament Team while senior Megan Wetter totaled 17 kills on a .517 hitting percentage against Northwestern. St. Thomas' first Power Four win came a season ago over Iowa, 3-1 (25-19, 25-23, 24-26, 25-19), at the Panther Invitational in Milwaukee, Wis.
2K(ealy) Assists
Junior setter Morgan Kealy continues to direct the Tommie offense as she surpassed 2,000 career assists during the sweep over Northwestern. She is second in the Summit League with 373 total assists this season (9.56 per set) and is second in active career assists (2,061) among all Summit League setters, trailing only Avery Van Hook from South Dakota (2,594).
100 Stuffs
Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Addie Schmotzer took 37 matches to reach 100 career blocks with the Tommies, recording stuff number 100 on her second block of the sweep at Northwestern on Sept. 18. She totaled 82 during her redshirt freshman campaign, while her 21 career solo blocks (13 in 2024) rank tied for second for the program during the DI era, trailing only Megan Wetter with 38.
Digging Her Way Up
Senior libero Ella Voegele continues to rack up the digs and is ranked eighth among all active NCAA DI athletes and 31st among active athletes in all divisions for total digs, entering the week with 1,535. In addition, she ranks sixth among all DI athletes in career digs per set with 4.42. She began her career at UNC-Greensboro with 454 digs as a freshman before following up with 432 as a sophomore at St. Thomas and a single-season best 506 as a junior. Her 2023 and 2024 season performances are the best for the program since joining DI in 2021, surpassing Carrie Rutledge's marks in 2021 (310) and 2022 (338).
2-of-3 for the Tommie Offense
Senior middle blocker Megan Wetter made it two-for-three for the Tommies after being named the Summit League Offensive Player of the Week. Teammate and senior opposite hitter Tezra Rudzitis earned the offensive award following the opening weekend of the season. Wetter has now won the award twice in her career while it's the seventh overall player of the week honor for the program since 2023. She earned the recognition after being named to the Bryant Invitational All-Tournament Team, where she powered the Tommies to a 3-0 weekend with wins over Army, Bryant, and Stony Brook. Wetter averaged 3.82 kills per set, 4.41 points per set, and hit .536 while recording at least 12 kills and a .400 attack percentage in every match.
Dominating Non-Conference Play
St. Thomas won seven straight matches following its sweep over the Big Ten's Northwestern (25-15, 25-17, 25-20), marking its longest winning streak since joining Division I in 2021. The Tommies won their second straight tournament title with three all-tournament team selections in both tournaments, including both tournament MVPs in Ellie Gustafson (Molly Howard-Gerwig Memorial Invitational) and Ella Voegele (Bryant Invitational). After going 7-29 through the program's first 13 non-conference tournaments of the DI era, the Tommies have now gone 15-4 through the previous seven tournaments dating back to Sept. 5, 2024. During that span, St. Thomas has gone 15-1 through six of those tournaments with the majority of the losses coming at the Golden Gopher Invitational to start this season.
Program's New DI Blocking Leader
Megan Wetter became the program's DI-era leader in career blocks during the Bryant Invitational, totaling seven total blocks over three matches with the final two blocks putting her at 201 for her career. She's the second Tommie to surpass the 200-block mark during the DI era, joining Ellie Dammann (2021-23) who finished her career with 200. With 28 total blocks in 2025, Wetter currently has 204 in her career.
Tops in the Summit League
St. Thomas is the only program in the Summit League to rank among the top two in the conference in each of points per set (1st/17.79), hitting percentage (1st/.260), kills per set (1st/14.38), service aces (1st/1.95), and assists per set (2nd/12.62). In addition, the Tommies also rank fourth with 15.18 digs per set. On the defensive end, St. Thomas ranks among the top three in opponent assists per set (2nd/10.62), blocks per set (2nd/1.68), kills per set (3rd/11.77), and aces per set (1.38).
All-Around Power
Of the top 12 individuals among the league in kills per set, three programs have multiple athletes on the list. While Omaha and South Dakota each have two among the top 12, St. Thomas features four athletes including freshman Anya Schmidt (6th/3.10), senior Tezra Rudzitis (7th/3.08), senior Megan Wetter (9th/2.92), and junior Ellie Gustafson (12th/2.74). Since 2021, St. Thomas has not had three athletes average 2.65 k/s or better during the same season.
Ace Ace Baby
Freshman outside hitter Anya Schmidt has not only made her mark at the net but also at the serving line. She began the Bryant Invitational with five service aces against Army, tying the program's DI single-match record, before breaking that mark with six aces to close the tournament against Stony Brook. Three Tommies previously totaled five service aces since 2022: Emma Goerger in 2022, and Tezra Rudzitis and Megan Wetter in 2023.
Season-Opening Double-Digit Kill Streak
Junior outside hitter Ellie Gustafson opened the 2025 campaign with six straight double-digit kill performances, becoming the first Tommie to do so since Taylor Lewis in 2016 (11 straight). The streak, which came to an end to start the Bryant Invitational, was also the longest of the Division I era, surpassing Lauren Galvin's three-match run to begin 2023. Gustafson is second on the team with 2.97 kills per set (98 kills). She posted a season-high 16 kills against Ball State, added two 14-kill outings, and recorded 10 kills in three additional matches to begin the season.
High Preseason Praise
After finishing third in the Summit League standings a season ago, the Tommies were picked to finish third in the 2025 Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll. It's the highest preseason selection since joining the league in 2021. St. Thomas totaled 48 points behind South Dakota State with 62 points and 6 first-place votes and South Dakota with 57 points and 3 first-place votes. Setter Morgan Kealy and middle blocker Megan Wetter were named the program's Players to Watch.
Loaded on the Upper End
What Tommie Volleyball lacked to start the Division I era has now become a strength of the team: 14 of the team's 21 athletes are upperclassmen. Among the upperclassmen, nine are seniors with seven being a part of the program over each of the past four seasons. Kaitlynn Peterson and Ella Voegele transferred into the program before the 2023 season. Of the nine seniors on the roster, all but one call the state of Minnesota home as the eight are from within 45 miles of the St. Thomas campus.
Veteran Leadership
Head Coach Thanh Pham enters his 23rd season leading St. Thomas, the longest-tenured head coach in the Summit League. He is set to coach in his 700th career match this season. Pham's culture and patience paid off during the final season of transition as the Tommies put together their most successful Division I campaign. The Purple finished 18-12 overall, becoming just the sixth transitioning program since 2011 to reach at least 18 wins and the first since 2018.
With the exit of 2012 St. Thomas Hall of Fame top assistant coach Joy Tietz, Pham added Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Jackie Richter, a Minnesota prep coaching legend, as the next top assistant. Richter most recently served as the head coach at Lakeville North High School where she won the 2017 Minnesota State Championship during four state tournament appearances. She was twice named Minnesota State Coach of the Year (2017, 2022) and was a Minnesota Sports Awards Coach of the Year finalist (2018).
Rudzit-Is the Player of the Week
Senior opposite Tezra Rudzitis earned her first career Summit League Offensive Player of the Week honor after a standout opening weekend at the Golden Gopher Invitational. She became just the third Tommie in the Division I era to open a season with three straight double-digit kill matches, averaging 3.58 kills per set on a .305 attack percentage. Rudzitis posted 14 kills against Ball State, hit .550 with 11 kills against Cal Poly, and tied her career high with 18 kills against No. 11 Minnesota. She totaled 45.0 points across three matches, adding three blocks, and was also named to the All-Tournament Team. The honor marks the third Summit League offensive weekly award and sixth overall in program history.
Taking 1 from No. 11
St. Thomas battled No. 11 Minnesota to four sets in a 3-1 loss, marking the program's first-ever set victory against a nationally ranked opponent. Rudzitis tied her career high with 18 kills on .263 hitting, capping a weekend that earned her Golden Gopher Invitational All-Tournament Team honors. Freshman outside Anya Schmidt posted her first career double-double with 12 kills and 12 digs, while junior Ellie Gustafson recorded her third straight double-digit kill match to open the season.
Summit League Network
All home Tommie Volleyball matches, and all Summit League matches, will be streamed exclusively on the Summit League Network, in partnership with Midco Sports. A subscription-based network, viewers can access all St. Thomas athletics events HERE.
Follow Along
For more information on St. Thomas Volleyball, follow along on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram at @tommievball. Tommie Athletics is now available on TikTok at @TommieSports.
Join Us
To reserve your seat to be a part of the Tommies' 2025 season, click HERE to view ticketing information and purchase options.
-- St. Thomas Athletics --
Players Mentioned
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