Women's Volleyball | 11/12/2025 1:05:00 AM
TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - With home wins by No. 1 seed Hiram College and No. 2 Thiel College, as well as road victories by No. 3 Westminster College and No. 4 Grove City College, all four teams from the North Division advanced out of the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Women's Volleyball Tournament Quarterfinals Tuesday night.
The four winning teams advance to semifinal matches on Thursday, Nov. 13, with both starting at 7 pm. The top seed in the Tournament, Hiram (25-2), will host Westminster (20-10) in one semifinal, while in Thursday's other match, Grove City (18-8) will make the short trip across Mercer County to take on Thiel (17-8).
Thursday's winners will play in the PAC Tournament Championship match, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 15th. The title game will be played at the highest remaining seed.
2025 PAC Women's Volleyball Championship Tournament
Quarterfinals - Tuesday, November 11, 2025
Match A - #4N Grove City 3, #1S Washington & Jefferson 2 (23-25, 25-13, 25-19, 23-25, 17-15)
The lone quarterfinal that was pushed to five sets was in Washington, where W&J (16-13) won the opening set 25-23 after scoring five of the final eights points. The Wolverines responded with convincing wins in the second (25-13) and third (25-19) sets, as they hit a combined .294 in those sets while W&J hit just .025. The fourth set went down to the end before a 4-2 Presidents' run closed out another 25-23 win and pushed the match to a deciding fifth set.
The fifth set saw both teams make runs, starting with W&J running off three of four to take an 8-5 lead at the switch. Grove City answered back with four in a row but the Presidents then mounted a 5-1 surge for a 13-10 advantage The last run would belong to Grove City, who closed the set with a 7-2 run. It began with two kills from junior Sarah Hart (Marriottsville, Md./Liberty) and the final point was driven home by junior Kendra Klusch (Alliance, Ohio/Homeschooled) for the 17-15 win and the Wolverines' first berth in the PAC semifinals since 2022.
It was a strong offensive night for Grove City, who hit .272 in the win. Hart posted a match-high 21 kills while hitting .310 and added 10 digs. Klusch's match-winning putaway gave her 12 kills in the match, while junior Lily Lagaras (Crofton, Md./Crofton) and junior Alayna Dorst (Middletown, Del./Middletown) had 11 kills each. Dorst added a team-leading 26 digs and was one of four Wolverines with double-doubles, including Hart, sophomore Brooke Manfull (Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth) with 27 assists and 13 digs and junior Sarah Harris (Lebanon, Ohio/Mars Hill) with 25 assists and 11 digs.
For W&J, senior Faith Fetsko (Venetia, Pa./South Park) had a huge night with 19 kills and 31 digs. Also reaching double-digit kills was freshman Lola Jacobs (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette) with 11, while junior Brielle Moorhouse (East Liberty, Ohio/Benjamin Logan) passed out 30 assists and freshman Isabella Bottiglieri (Mohnton, Pa./Governor Mifflin) finished with 21 assists and 11 digs.
Match B - #1N Hiram 3, #4S Saint Vincent 1 (23-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-21)
The top-seeded Terriers shook off an opening set loss to the Bearcats, who trailed 10-3 to start the first set but clawed their way back to take a 25-23 win. After having nine attack errors in the first set, Hiram settled in to hit .279 in the second and even the match with a 25-16 decision in set two. In the crucial third set, SVC looked poised to go in front after taking a 22-21 lead, but Hiram rallied with the final four points for a 25-22 win.
The fourth set was tied at 6-6 when Hiram ripped off a 6-1 run and kept pulling away, building as large as a 19-11 cushion. Saint Vincent chipped away to get it down to a three-pint deficit before Hiram used a kill from junior Morgan Tomblin (Parma, Ohio/Normandy) on match point for a 25-21 win and advance to the PAC semifinals in their first season back in the conference since 1988.
Triggering the Terriers offense was senior setter Kelly Hoffman (Streetsboro, Ohio/Crestwood) with 51 assists and she added 22 digs for a double-double. On the receiving end of many of those assists were junior Maggie Riley (Elyria, Ohio/Lorain County Community College) and freshman Sofia Smotek (Independence, Ohio/Independence) with 21 kills each and they also had double-doubles with 25 and 17 digs, respectively. Tomblin put away 13 kills as well offensively and senior Brooke Fishback (Aurora, Ohio/Aurora) aided the defensive efforts with 24 digs.
The Bearcats' efforts were led by sophomore Meegan Williams (Homer City, Pa./Homer-Center) with 20 kills and 19 digs, sophomore Dakota Hershberger (Belleville, Pa./Mifflin County) with 10 kills and 15 digs, senior Sani Jones (Bridgeville, Pa./Bishop Canevin), who had 28 assists, and freshman Bailey Green (York, Pa./York Catholic) with 17 assists and 16 digs.
Match C - #3N Westminster 3, #2S Chatham 1 (23-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-19)
The Titans advanced to the PAC semifinals for the second year in a row by overcoming a Chatham win in the first set. The Cougars (16-9) trailed 23-22 but scored the final three points to take a 1-0 lead. Westminster quickly drew even in the second set, using a 6-0 run midway through the set to take control and using a four-point run late to help close out a 25-19 win. In set three, Westminster led 15-12 and pulled away with 10 of the set's final 14 points for a 25-16 win to go on top, 2-1.
Chances of a Chatham rally in the fourth were extinguished by a Titan attack that had their best set of the night. Westminster hit. 224 with 16 kills in the set, with five coming from senior Rachel LaSalvia (Columbus, Pa./Cory), including the final point in a 25-19 win that closed out the match.
A full night was turned in by Westminster sophomore Morgan O'Brien (Pittsburgh, Pa./Our Lady of the Sacred Heart), who registered a triple-double with 13 kills, 22 assists and 26 digs. LaSalvia posted a dozen kills in the win, while junior Liv Trent (Pittsburgh, Pa./Brentwood) totaled 10 kills and 13 digs and senior Angie Nardone (Ellwood City, Pa./Lincoln) posted 18 assists and 13 digs.
Leading Chatham on the night was junior Vanessa Mleczko (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville) with 12 kills and 16 digs and junior Becca Gesner (San Diego, Calif./Valley Center) with 12 kills.
Match D - #2N Thiel 3, #3S Franciscan 1 (25-20, 25-17, 23-25, 25-15)
Thiel is in the PAC semifinals for the first time since 2022 with their win Tuesday, which began with wins in the opening two sets. The Tomcats hit .289 with 15 kills in the first set to earn a 25-20 win, then took advantage of a Franciscan side that hit negative in the second to take the set, 25-17.
The Barons (12-13) bounced back in the third to hit .278 and used a 7-1 run to build a 22-17 lead before hanging on for a 25-23 victory to force a fourth set. There was little drama in the fourth set with Thiel, off the strength of five service aces, exploding for the first 15 points in the set and cruising to the clinching 25-15 win.
The top two hitters for the Tomcats had strong nights, with senior Daisy Jenness (Pendleton, Ore./Pendleton) hitting .254 with 26 kills and junior Arin DeLattre (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) putting down 17 kills while hitting .354. Senior Carlie Reynolds (Grove City, Pa./Grove City) finished the match with 48 assists and 12 digs, fifth-year Danielle Aulet (Lawrence, Kan./Mineral Ridge) brought up 21 digs and freshman Sarah Wilson (Rural Valley, Pa./West Shamokin) notched 19 digs and eight of the team's 16 aces in the victory.
Franciscan's top hitter all season was freshman Logan Hickey (Richmond, Ohio/Seton Home Study) and she had 20 kills, but was the only Baron in double digits. Sophomore Kaitlan Hickey (Richmond, Ohio/Seton Home Study) finished the night with 28 digs and junior setter Mary Smart (Beavercreek, Ohio/Archbishop Carroll) sent off 28 assists.