The No. 1 ranked St. Thomas volleyball team defeated no. 4 St. Olaf 3-1 in the MIAC championship game Saturday night in the Schoenecker Arena.

The Tommies started the match out strong winning the first two sets, and came full circle with a win in the fourth after a tough third set.

“I’m super proud of our girls. I’m very thankful for the fans that came out and supported us. A good show and we’re very pleased with the outcome,” said Thanh Pham, St Thomas head Volleyball coach.

Winning the first two sets, the Tommies came in strong into the third, leading by two. In the third set, they fell to the Oles 26-24.

“It’s definitely just been an all hands on deck kind of thing, from the bench to the court,” senior outside hitter Madie Kroehler said. “Everyone’s bringing their game and it’s been so much fun.”

Sophomore Fran Egan led the Tommies in scoring, raking up 16 individual points, 15 of which were kills.

Senior libero Ellie Meyer and junior defensive specialist Meghan Mazzola set the Tommies up strong with Meyer having 22 digs and Mazzola continuing her strong streak with 13 overall digs.

“I think we’ve shown in the last week or two that we can do really well in our region, and those are all teams that we’re going to see again,” Meyer said. “I think it looks really good for us for next weekend, and I’m really excited to see these teams again.”

The Tommies start the NCAA DIII tournament next weekend against regional teams. Location and opponent have yet to be announced.

Mae Macfarlane can be reached at macf7507@stthomas.edu.