Women's Volleyball | 11/13/2025 11:20:00 PM

TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - The 2024 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Women's Volleyball Tournament Championship Game will feature No. 1 Hiram College against No. 4 Grove City College after both programs posted victories in the tournament semifinals Thursday night. 

Hiram (26-2), the Tournament's top seed, had to rally from a 2-1 deficit to get past No. 3 Westminster College 3-2 (25-15, 15-25, 19-25, 25-15, 15-12), while fourth-seeded Grove City (19-8) went on the road to sweep No. 2 Thiel College 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-19). The championship match is slated for Saturday at Hiram's Price Gymnasium, with first serve scheduled for 7 pm. The PAC Sports Network will have coverage of the Saturday evening final.

The top-seeded Terriers rolled to a set one win over Westminster (20-11), hitting .457 en route to a 25-15 decision. The Titans answered back in the second set, using a 10-2 surge midway through the set to build a nine-point lead and even the match at 1-1 with their own 25-15 win. In the third set, both sides had runs, but a late three-point burst by Westminster helped seal a 25-19 win. Needing a win to keep the match going, Hiram responded, erupting for a 12-2 run that keyed another 25-15 win and forced a deciding fifth set. 

Hiram junior Morgan Tomblin (Parma, Ohio/Normandy), who had a career night, had four kills to push the Terriers out to a 5-1 lead. The Titans rallied with a 6-1 surge, highlighted by two kills and a block from senior Shelby Rambo (East Palestine, Ohio/Crestview), to go in front briefly at 7-6. The next run was pivotal, a four-point streak by the Terriers to put them back into the lead for good at 10-7. After the teams exchanged the next four points, Tomblin helped close the match out. She had kills for three of Hiram's final four points, and her seventh kill of the final set closed the 15-12 win and sent the Terriers into the PAC final.

Tomblin turned in a huge night, posting 24 kills and only five errors in 48 swings for a .396 hitting percentage. Also posting double-digit kills and double-doubles for the game was junior Maggie Riley (Elyria, Ohio/Lorain County Community College) with 17 kills and 11 digs and freshman Sofia Smotek (Independence, Ohio/Independence) with a dozen kills and 24 digs. Senior setter Kelly Hoffman (Streetsboro, Ohio/Crestwood) set the table for the offense with 59 assists to go with 18 digs and three aces.

In the match for Westminster, junior Liv Trent (Pittsburgh, Pa./Brentwood) turned in a team-high 17 kills and added 16 digs, while Rambo hit .524 in putting down 12 kills. Freshman Kylie Anthony (Harrison City, Pa./Penn-Trafford) brought up a team-leading 24 digs, while sophomore Morgan O'Brien (Pittsburgh, Pa./Our Lady of the Sacred Heart) totaled seven kills, 30 assists and 14 digs.

In the opening set at Thiel, Grove City held a narrow 14-13 lead, but then slowly pulled away, using an 8-3 run to take control and go on to a 25-20 win. Thiel (17-9) looked like they would even the match at a set apiece when the Tomcats raced out to a 17-11 advantage. The Wolverines stormed back with 11 of the next 13 points and closed the set out for a 25-22 win and a 2-0 advantage.

Another massive Grove City run turned the tide in the third set. Trailing 6-5, the Wolverines ripped off 10 consecutive points, with four coming off aces from sophomore Lilly Wojtala (Copley, Ohio/Revere) and two from kills by junior Kendra Klusch (Alliance, Ohio/Homeschooled). Thiel tried to chip away after that, but couldn't get closer than five points and the clinching point was delivered on a setter dump by Grove City sophomore Brooke Manfull (Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth) to finish the sweep with a 25-19 win.

A balanced Grove City attack saw seven different players record at least two kills, with junior Sarah Hart (Marriottsville, Md./Liberty) recording a team-best eight and Klusch finishing with six to go along with eight blocks. Manfull recorded a team-leading 16 assists and added nine digs, while junior Sarah Harris (Lebanon, Ohio/Mars Hill) passed out 11 assists. Leading the back row defense was Wojtala, who had 17 digs to go with a season-high five aces. 

For Thiel, senior Daisy Jenness (Pendleton, Ore./Pendleton) posted 13 kills and sophomore Lyndzee Amory (Edinboro, Pa./Saegertown) had 11, while senior Carlie Reynolds (Grove City, Pa./Grove City) finished with a 29-assist, 12 dig double-double. 

Saturday's final will be the third meeting between the Terriers and Wolverines this season. Hiram won the first two, taking a 3-1 victory in the PAC opener between the teams on Sept. 16th and then winning 3-2 on Grove City's floor on Nov. 5th. Hiram is in their first season back in the PAC since 1988 and is in search of their initial PAC title. It will be the first conference championship match for the Terriers since 2018 when they reached the final of the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament before falling to Wittenberg University.

Grove City has won a PAC-high nine league championships and are playing in their first Championship game since the spring 2021 COVID season. Prior to that, their last title game appearance was in 2002 when they lost to Westminster. A Grove City win Saturday would be the Wolverines' first PAC crown since winning back-to-back championships in 2000 and 2001.