In Thanh Pham’s 400th game as head coach, the St. Thomas volleyball team improved its MIAC record to 2-0 Wednesday evening as it defeated the Macalester Scots 3-0 at Alumni Gymnasium.

“To be honest … it doesn’t really feel any different. I take every day one match at a time; and whether it’s the 400th or first game, they all mean the same to me; and I want to go out and win it,” Pham said.

St. Thomas began MIAC play with a 3-1 victory over St. Mary’s last week and remains one of three teams unbeaten in conference play this season.

The Tommies took an early advantage of the Scots, winning the first set 25-9, but St. Thomas only won the second and third sets by five points, 25-20 each.

“It was our serving. We missed in the neighborhood of eight to 10 sets in the second set, and I think in the third set probably two or three. Making your serves and keeping the pressure on the other team really helps in the game of volleyball,” Pham said.

Pham, who has coached the Tommies for 12 years, said Wednesday’s game was all about playing to the team’s potential.

“For us tonight it was all about working hard and executing,” Pham said. “In the second set we weren’t executing our serves; that gives the other team faith and belief, and belief is a dangerous thing. They came out much stronger in the third set, and we were in for a fight. So I’m glad our girls were able to pull it off.”

Pham said he was especially impressed with outside hitter Taylor Lewis’ play. Lewis, who only played in the first set, made a noticeable difference when she was in the game.

“Even though it wasn’t as fast-paced as we are used to, we were always ready to play defense and pick up scrappy balls,” Lewis said.

Senior standout and two-time MIAC MVP middle blocker Kelly Foley was key for the Tommies again, recording 13 kills.

“We did a good job of focusing on our side, but we missed a lot of serves. We did a good job of making up for it with other things, so I’m proud of that, but we need to focus on making our serves when it’s important,” Foley said.

The Tommies look to their senior leadership for guidance on how to keep focused during a tough MIAC schedule and maintain intensity along the way.

“We are working at playing our level of play no matter who we are playing. We’ve been really up and down, and I think as we keep going into conference play, we need to play everyone hard,” Foley said.

The Tommies’ next game is 3 p.m. Saturday at Gustavus Adolphus College.

Luke Moe can be reached at moe95234@stthomas.edu.