Women’s Volleyball: St. Thomas wins Summit League title to punch ticket to D-1 NCAA Tournament

The Tommies volleyball association is going dancing In its first season of Division-I postseason eligibility the undertaking became the school s first to earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament by knocking off top-seeded South Dakota State in four sets in the Summit League Tournament title match Tuesday in Brookings South Dakota St Thomas freshman outside hitter Maddy Benka celebrates with her teammates after the Tommies defeated South Dakota State in the Summit League Tournament championship match in Brookings South Dakota on Tuesday Nov Dave Eggen Inertia We put in so much hard work and it s just so cool to see it all pay off We ve worked so hard and we all bought in so much and it s just so awesome Senior right side Tezra Rudzitis advised the broadcast It s the best feeling in the world It s so awesome that I get to do it with so several awesome girls The Tommies fell twice to the Jackrabbits during the regular season but claimed the first set Tuesday South Dakota State responded to win the second set but St Thomas won the third and fourth Leading - in the fourth set it was a kill from Addie Schmotzer that sealed the deal for the Tommies We just played so hard tonight St Thomas coach Thanh Pham informed the broadcast For our girls it was a battle We knew what it would come down to and it was exactly what we thought just a knock down drag out fight Rudzitis was dominant for St Thomas tallying kills while hitting in the final Anya Schmidt added kills while Megan Wetter had Morgan Kealy was named tournament MVP after she recorded set assists in the final NCAA Tournament action begins next week The Tommies seed and regional site will be disclosed during Sunday s selection show Beyond excited Rudzitis reported It s literally a dream for all of us and we re all so excited Related Articles Volleyball Tommies reach Summit Final via -set semi thriller One win from NCAA ticket FCS football Tommies on wrong end of blowout at No NDSU Men s basketball Tommies win on buzzer-beating heave College football St Thomas prepared for toughest foe of DI era MN lawmakers hear about impact of canceled federal higher instruction grants