TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - Top seed Thiel College and second seed Grove City College will play for the first-ever Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Men's Volleyball Tournament championship Saturday night after the teams posted semifinal round victories on their home floors Thursday.
Thiel (21-6) stayed undefeated against PAC opponents this year with a 3-0 victory over fifth-seeded Saint Vincent College in Greenville, while Grove City (14-14) bested No. 3 Hiram College 3-1 on the Wolverines' home floor in the other semifinal.
The first PAC Men's Volleyball Tournament champion will be crowned Saturday night when the two teams face off in a 7 pm match at Thiel.
Thursday, April 8 (Semifinal Round - Greenville, Pa.)
No. 1 Thiel 3, No. 5 Saint Vincent 0
Thiel's offense was clicking in the opening set Thursday. After Saint Vincent (11-13) took an early 4-2 lead, the Tomcats rolled off six points in a row to take an 8-4 advantage and would lead the rest of the set. A kill by Ezra Oesterling put Thiel at set point and an SVC service error would provide the final point in a 25-19 win. Oesterling had four kills to pace a Thiel attack which hit .312 in the initial set.
The story of the second set was the Thiel blocking at the net. Behind three early kills by Shawn McSwiggen, the Bearcats surged out to a 12-9 lead. Thiel would bounce back to take a brief lead, but another McSwiggen kill and one by Zebediah Wyant had SVC in front by a 19-18 count. The tide turned right after that, as the Tomcats scored four straight, with three coming off blocks. A service error broke the string, but a kill by Jake Dies and two SVC attack errors completed a 7-1 spurt, and a 25-20 Thiel win in the second set. After hitting over .300 early in the second, Saint Vincent would hit .054 for the set, largely due to seven Tomcat blocks.
In the third, it was close again until the Tomcats pulled away to close out the win. The score was tied at 13-13 when a kill by Dies ignited an 8-2 run for the Tomcats. Firmly in control, Thiel kept the momentum, as a kill by Kaleb Proudfoot started a quick three-point burst and the clinching point was put away by Oesterling for a 25-19 win to complete the sweep.
It was a balanced attack across the board in the Thiel victory. Oesterling registered a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs, while Dies matched him with 10 kills. Posting seven kills each was Will Zimmerman and Proudfoot, who added a team-high seven blocks (two solo, five assisted). His work up front fueled the Tomcats' season-best 16 blocks in the match.
Others posting big nights for Thiel was Ben Lowell, who passed out 36 assists, and Josh Hovan, who brought up a match-high 12 digs.
The Saint Vincent effort was led by McSwiggen with 11 kills and he just missed a double-double with nine digs, while Jackson Genicola finished with 21 assists.
Thursday, April 8 (Semifinal Round - Grove City, Pa.)
No. 2 Grove City 3, No. 3 Hiram 1
The opening set in this semifinal nearly went to the visitors before a Grove City rally pushed them to the win. Hiram (16-11) was in front 17-15 before a 6-3 run had the Terriers on the verge of winning the set with a 23-18 lead. The Wolverines rallied with five consecutive points, two off kills from Keith Otto and three from Hiram attack errors, to tie the score at 23-23. A Grove City service error gave Hiram a set point, but the Wolverines would score next and fight off a total of four set points. The momentum changed to Grove City's side after two Terrier hitting errors gave the home team the lead, but then Hiram would fend off two set points. The Wolverines finally emerged with a 31-29 victory after a pair of attack errors by Hiram, who had 12 miscues in the opening set.
The second set was controlled from the start by Grove City. Two kills by Max Gianneski were part of a 7-1 Wolverine run to begin the set. Hiram managed to trim the deficit to three on two occasions in the set, the second coming when two kills by Kyle Martini and a pair of aces by Garrett Scheidegger had the Terriers within 22-19. Grove City recovered to take the set 25-19 and a 2-0 lead after three Hiram hitting errors, as the Terriers only hit .056 in the second while the Wolverines hit .308, with Otto having three of the team's 10 kills in the set.
Needing to win a set to stay alive, Hiram's offense was at its best in the third, posting 16 kills and hitting .286. The Terriers were holding an 18-16 lead and kept the match going by closing it out with seven of the final nine points for a 25-18 win. The final two points came on kills by Derek Chiang, who had seven in the set.
Grove City forged out to an early lead in the fourth set looking to close out the match. Otto had a trio of kills and Andrew Kessler had two to lift the Wolverines to an early 9-6 cushion. Hiram would bounce back to tie it at 13-13, but three kills by Quintin Norris triggered a 5-1 Grove City surge for an 18-14 advantage. The Terriers stayed closed and managed to get within two at 23-21, but the final two Grove City points came on kills by Otto to finish set at 25-22 and secure the 3-1 win for the Wolverines, who had 19 kills and hit .421 in the fourth, to send them into Saturday's title tilt.
Grove City hitters were highlighted by Otto and Gianneski pounding down 14 kills apiece, while Norris and Kessler had seven each. Kessler also had an impact at the net with one solo block and six assists, helping the Wolverines finish with 13 blocks in the match. Setter Craig Fair finished with 40 assists and chipped in four assisted blocks as well.
For Hiram in the setback, Martini finished with 24 kills and Chiang contributed 16. Racking up 51 assists was Matthew Albano, while the defensive efforts were led by Connor Tilton with 12 digs.
Saturday's championship match between Thiel and Grove City will be their third meeting of the year. The Tomcats won both regular season contests by 3-1 scores, first in Greenville on Feb. 28 and then winning the rematch in Grove City on March 26th.
2025 PAC Men's Volleyball Championship Tournament
Quarterfinals - Tuesday, April 8, 2025
No. 3 Hiram 3, No. 6 Chatham 1 (25-21, 24-26, 25-18, 25-21) - Box Score
No. 5 Saint Vincent 3, No. 4 Geneva (25-20, 25-20, 25-20) - Box Score
Semifinals - Thursday, April 10, 2025
No. 1 Thiel 3, No. 5 Saint Vincent 0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-18) - Box Score
No. 2 Grove City 3, No. 3 Hiram 1 (31-29, 25-18, 19-25, 25-22) - Box Score
Championship - Saturday, April 12, 2025
No. 2 Grove City (14-14) at No. 1 Thiel (21-6) - 7 pm