Volleyball beats St. Thomas for first time since 1995

The Pipers (16-7, 6-4 in the MIAC) are one step closer to earning an MIAC playoff spot for the first time since the current six-team format was adopted six years ago. It was the Pipers first MIAC victory over the Tommies (21-5, 6-4) since 1994. The Pipers defeated St. Thomas 2-0 in an abbreviated tournament match in 1995.

Senior Dana Luiken added 27 kills in the match while senior Jenna Witt became the Pipers all-time leader in digs with 27. She passed Pam Aufderhar on the all-time list with 1,725 career digs.

First-year Tasha Simmons added 18 kills and 22 digs. Junior Shelby Hyllengren had 17 kills while setter Jenny Nichols dished out 65 assists with 11 digs. Junior Sara Burns had five aces and 11 digs in the match.

St. Thomas entered the match as the seventh-ranked team in the country, but the Pipers took games one and two 30-24, 30-23. Hamline dropped game three, but held a 28-22 lead in game four before the Tommies forced a game five.

Hamline never trailed in the final stanza, scoring eight of the final 11 points on the match.

Tommie Rachelle Dosch set the school's all-time digs leader with 25 digs on the evening. She has 1,701 for her career.

The Pipers will host the Hamline Triangular Saturday at Hutton Arena. They play Luther at 10:00 a.m. and Viterbo at 2:00 p.m.