Thiel Earns No. 1 Seed for Inaugural Men's Volleyball Tournament First PAC Tournament begins with quarterfinal matches April 8 4/5/2025 5:34:00 PM TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - After completing the regular season with an undefeated 12-0 record against conference opponents, Thiel College earned the No. 1 seed and home-court advantage through the 2025 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Men's Volleyball tournament, as the schedule for the league's inaugural tournament was announced Saturday. This is the first season the PAC has sponsored men's volleyball as a championship sport. The six-team championship tournament, which begins with a pair of quarterfinal round matches Tuesday, will determine this year's PAC champion. The winner of this year's championship tournament will also receive the league's automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. Admission to all PAC Championship Tournament matches is $5 for adults and $2 for students, with students at PAC host institutions admitted for free with valid identification. Thiel (20-6, 12-0) rolled through the regular season without a loss to secure the top seed and hosting rights through the Tournament. The Tomcats will bring a 13-match winning streak into the Tournament and have not lost since a 3-0 setback at Buffalo State on Feb. 15th. Thiel avenged that non-conference defeat against the Bengals as part of their current winning streak, claiming a 3-1 triumph in Greenville on March 23rd. In addition to Thiel, second-seeded Grove City College both earned quarterfinal byes. In their first season as a varsity program, the Wolverines (13-14, 8-4) won four of their last five in PAC competition to claim the No. 2 seed. By earning the quarterfinal byes, Thiel and Grove City will host semifinal matches on Thursday, April 10th. PAC quarterfinal matches will kick off the Tournament on Tuesday, April 8th at 7 pm. One quarterfinal will be in Hiram, Ohio, where third-seeded Hiram College (15-10, 7-5) will host the sixth-seed, Chatham University (7-13, 4-8). Prior to this season, PAC programs competed in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) and Hiram won last year's AMCC crown with a victory over Saint Vincent College in the final. The Terriers were on a three-game winning streak prior to a 3-1 loss at Thiel in the regular season finale Friday night. Chatham (7-13, 4-8) is making its first postseason appearance after playing as an independent in 2024, the Cougars' first season as a varsity program. After starting the season 4-10, Chatham is playing well entering the tournament, going 3-3 in their last six matches. One of those wins was a 3-2 victory at Hiram on March 14th, which gave the Cougars a split of the season series after the Terriers won the first match-up 3-0 on Feb. 19th. The winner of the Hiram/Chatham match-up will advance to the semifinals Thursday at Grove City. Tuesday's other quarterfinal features fifth-seeded Saint Vincent (10-12, 5-7) making the trip to Beaver Falls, Pa., to face fourth-seeded Geneva College (11-15, 6-6). Geneva built some momentum for the Tournament by snapping a three-match losing streak with a sweep at Bethany College in their final regular season game Friday, while Saint Vincent also completed their regular season with a win, a 3-2 thriller at home over Chatham to clinch the fifth seed and the quarterfinal match-up with Geneva. The two regular season meetings between the teams were both won by Geneva. The Golden Tornadoes escaped Latrobe with a 3-2 decision on Feb. 20th, before winning the rematch on Geneva's floor 3-0 on March 19th. Whoever emerges from Tuesday's quarterfinal with the victory moves on to play at top-seeded Thiel in Thursday's semifinal. The semifinal winners will meet in the PAC Tournament Championship on Saturday, April 12th, which will be hosted by the highest-remaining seed. Information on the title match will be announced after the completion of the semifinals. Team selections for the Division III Championship will be announced Monday, April 14th with NCAA Tournament play starting Thursday-Saturday, April 17-19.