Neal: ‘Mad respect’ as St. Thomas pushes Iowa State to limit in NCAA tournament debut

There was a moment during Friday’s St. Thomas-Iowa State volleyball match when Tommies setter Morgan Kealy was serving as the Gophers team stood only a few feet behind her.

“I was back there serving and I heard the Gopher volleyball team cheering me on,” said Kealy, from River Falls, Wis. “So that was special. I know a couple of them. I played against them for years in club ball.”

Friday was an opportunity for fans of both teams to join forces and get behind the Tommies’ cause. And the fans did just that.

While St. Thomas’ arrival to the postseason as a Division I athletic program was noteworthy, there was something bigger at stake at Maturi Pavilion: A chance for an all-Minnesota meeting in the second round of the NCAA tournament between the Tommies and Gophers, with the winner advancing to the round of 16 next week. It would have been a rematch of an Aug. 31 match the Gophers won in four sets.

The Tommies acquitted themselves well against Iowa State. They had firepower. Their serving gave the Cyclones problems. And they might have had the most gifted player on the floor on in freshman outside hitter Anya Schmidt, who is going to be a force for years. Schmidt, from Rogers, led everyone with 16 kills.

St, Thomas’ 21-25, 25-13, 25-16, 21-25, 15-8 loss preceded the Gophers’ first-round domination against Fairfield. The Gophers, a 25-12, 25-7, 25-12 winner, will face Iowa State on Saturday.

But coach Thanh Pham’s St. Thomas squad did not look overmatched against a Cyclones team that was ranked 23rd at the end of the regular season.

The number of Iowa license plates in the parking ramp Friday suggested Iowa State fans travel well. The Cyclones brought their band, mascot, cheerleaders and also had a vociferous cheering section.

“Quiet! She’s serving!” they screamed when St. Thomas served in the first set. Unfortunately, a “Six-seven” chant broke out during the second set.

The Cyclones were part of a Minnesota volleyball reunion on Friday. They had two players on the roster from Minnesota. Fairfield had three. St. Thomas had 13 and the Gophers had seven. So each team had someone cheering for them.

St. Thomas won the first set but Iowa State settled down and won the next two. The fourth set could have been the final one of the season for the Tommies, but they responded.

“We were down two sets to one,” Schmidt said. “We were just like, ‘We’re gonna play fearless. We’re going to go for it. This could be the last set that we play together. We’re just gonna do it.’ You’ve got to go hard. You can’t back down.”

So Gophers fans cheered for St. Thomas, making it one of the few times a Tommies felt welcome on the Minnesota campus.

The underdog team had the support advantage, and the Cyclones experienced it in the fourth set when St. Thomas refused to let its season end.

When Iowa State called timeout trailing 19-15, Gophers fans cheered. St. Thomas led 22-16 before a series of mistakes allowed the Cyclones to get within 22-20. A much-needed kill by Tezra Rudzitis stopped the run. Ellie Gustafson’s kill gave them a 24-21 lead before Rudzitis’ block won the set.

At that moment, Gophers fans gave the Tommies a standing ovation.

St. Thomas, however, could not sustain that surge in the fifth set.

Pham needed a couple of beats to compose himself as he wrapped up the Tommies’ first NCAA tournament appearance. But it won’t be the Tommies’ last. They were 3-25 in 2021, their first as a Division I program, then followed that with records of 4-26, 7-20 and 18-10 before ending this season 21-10. And Schmidt isn’t the only key player returning in 2026.

“Today we didn’t win,” Pham said. “But our program got better. I know on the scoreboard, a lot of people are looking at, ‘Did you get the W?’ I just think it was a momentous step for our program to compete with a team like Iowa State.

“So we’ll keep learning from it, and we’ll keep getting better.”

BOXSCORE: Iowa State 3, St. Thomas 2

All-Big Ten selection Julia Hanson had 13 kills and the Gophers dominated Friday’s second match at Maturi Pavilion, beating overmatched Fairfield 25-12, 25-7, 25-13.

Fairfield’s roster includes setter Abby Jandro (Lakeville North), outside hitter Allie Elliott (Stewartville) and right side Caroline Collins (lakeville North).