(WINONA, Minn.)– No. 4-ranked St. Thomas volleyball ended its regular season with a 3-0 victory over St. Mary’s University Saturday, tallying its fifth consecutive sweep and winning a share of the MIAC championship for the seventh consecutive year.

St. Thomas shares the conference crown with Augsburg. With the win, the Tommies gain a bye heading into the conference playoffs and will play Thursday at home in the semifinals.

Tommie juniors came to Winona ready to play, with opposite hitter Sara Atkinson, middle blocker Kelly Foley and outside hitter Jill Greenfield helping secure the St. Thomas victory with constant pressure and tenacious defense.

Greenfield’s 10 kills Saturday put her at 1,001 on her collegiate career. Foley, who surpassed 1,000 kills earlier this season, added 13 of her own.

The Tommies (26-2 overall, 10-1 MIAC) defeated the Cardinals (23-8 overall, 6-5 MIAC) in three sets, over-powering St. Mary’s with their strong net presence and deep bench depth.

Coach Thanh Pham said his Tommies didn’t come away with the most convincing victory of the year, but the win was impressive nonetheless.

“I didn’t think we played our best,” Pham said. “But I’m very proud of our girls. To win the conference for the seventh straight year … it means a lot.”

“We definitely have a lot of work to do, but we’re going to go in strong, and we’re going to take every opponent as they come,” junior outside hitter Sydney Westfield said about the team advancing into the playoffs.

After a back and forth 25-20 first set victory, the Tommies seemed to be on their way to an easy three set sweep, but St. Mary’s fought to stay in the contest. After taking many early points in the second set, the Cardinals gained momentum.

St. Mary’s stormed back from a 9-2 deficit to tie the game at 15, with a point-for-point match until St. Thomas slowly pulled out a three-point victory at 25-22.

The Tommies’ depth finally wore down St. Mary’s in the third and final set. With fresh players, St. Thomas’ up-front height and talent was no match for the home team as the Tommies won the third set 25-17.

After the win, Pham is turning to practice this week, saying there’s a lot the team needs to work on before playoffs begin for the Tommies on Thursday.

Pham is looking forward to the home-field advantage as the No.1 seed in the conference playoffs.

“Hopefully our fans will come out and support us like they have all year,” Pham said. “There are five or six teams that could make the national tournament, so it’s going to be a great conference tournament.”

Joey Anderson can be reached at ande9008@stthomas.edu.