The Tommie volleyball team gathers before playing the final set against St. Olaf. The Tommies beat the Oles in the fifth set 15-10. (Miranda Lockner/TommieMedia)
Defensive specialist Maggie Krieger digs the ball against the Oles. The sophomore had eleven kills on Wednesday’s game. (Miranda Lockner/TommieMedia)
Middle blocker Grace Duffy makes a kill. The sophomore had six kills against the Oles on Wednesday. (Miranda Lockner/TommieMedia)
Middle blocker Whitney Lloyd grimaces before striking the ball against the Oles. The junior achieved her season-high with 19 kills Wednesday. (Miranda Lockner/TommieMedia)
Outside hitter Kelly Biermann and Lloyd go up for a block against St. Olaf. St. Thomas is 3-5 in the MIAC after Wednesday’s win over the Oles. (Miranda Lockner/TommieMedia)
Outside hitter Audrey Erickson guides the ball over a wall of blockers in Wednesday’s win. The freshman has had 13 kills so far in her career at St. Thomas. (Miranda Lockner/TommieMedia)
Outside hitter Taylor Lewis smiles at a teammate after a kill. The junior had 14 kills against the Oles. (Miranda Lockner/TommieMedia)
Audrey Erickson waits to serve the ball against St. Olaf last year. The Tommies will be facing harsh cuts this coming season. (Miranda Lockner/TommieMedia)
Outside hitter Brooke Reichart goes up for a block against St. Olaf. The sophomore is ranked 14th in kills in the conference. (Tommie Media/MirandaLockner)
After dropping a season-high seven straight matches, middle blocker Whitney Lloyd and the St. Thomas volleyball team earned a hard-fought 3-2 victory over St. Olaf Wednesday night at Schoenecker Arena.
The Tommies (8-15 overall, 3-5 MIAC) started out strong and easily took the first two sets 25-18 and 25-17. They then lost the next two and headed into the fifth set with little momentum. St. Thomas regained its rhythm and soared back with a 9-2 run in the decisive set to seal the match.
Coach Thanh Pham wasn’t surprised by the team’s performance against the Oles (8-17 overall, 0-8 MIAC) but was happy with the win.
“I thought we did some good things and not-so-good things, but in the fifth set, when St. Olaf came out with some fire, I was glad to see that our girls were able to respond.”
Lloyd led the Tommies with five assisted blocks and a career-high 19 kills. She credited her teammates for the win.
“We played strong as a team, and we really fought together,” Lloyd said.
The Tommies had to battle back after losing the third and fourth sets 20-25 and 24-26. Pham said his team “Never lost faith in the fifth set.”
“Third set we tried some new kids and it didn’t quite work out,” Pham said. “Fourth set, again we got caught behind the eight ball and had a slow start and had to fight all the way back.”
Outside hitter Taylor Lewis helped the team with 14 kills, 15 digs and two aces. With only three regular-season games remaining, she knows what has to happen for a successful finish.
“Definitely win the last three, that’s for sure. Hopefully we’ll make it into the MIAC playoffs and then we’ll go from there,” Lewis said.
St. Thomas is currently ranked eighth in the MIAC and is set to play Bethel at home on Saturday.
Jack Burke can be reached at jtburke@stthomas.edu