Women's Volleyball | 11/12/2026 10:45:00 PM
TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - Top-seed Hiram College and No. 2 Chatham University will face in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Women's Volleyball Tournament Championship match after the two teams posted victories on their home floors in Thursday night's semifinals.
Hiram advanced to its second straight PAC championship match with a 3-0 win over No. 4 Westminster College, while Chatham defeated No. 3 Franciscan 3-1 to earn a spot in the PAC title game for the second time in four years.
The PAC Tournament Championship match between Hiram (17-9) and Chatham (16-6) is set for Saturday, Nov. 14th at 7 pm in Hiram's Price Gymnasium. The PAC Sports Network will have live coverage of the match from first serve through the trophy presentation.
2026 PAC Women's Volleyball Championship Tournament
Semifinals - Thursday, November 12, 2026
Semifinal 1 - No. 1 Hiram 3, No. 4 Westminster 0 (25-21, 25-19, 26-24)
- Westminster was positioned to take the first set after taking a 19-15 lead, but Hiram roared back with a 10-2 run to close out a 25-21 win. The Terriers' rally was led by Madison Dustman, who had two kills and two blocks during the run.
- The second set was tightly contested before another Hiram run sealed it. Leading 19-18, the Terriers scored six of the last seven points for a 25-19 win and 2-0 lead. Hiram's Megan Chiang had a pair of kills during that stretch, including the set-clinching point.
- The third set saw swings from both teams, with a 4-0 burst by Hiram putting them in front 23-18 and poised to close it out.
- Westminster battled all the way back, rolling off six consecutive points, three coming off kills by Liv Trent, to reach set point with a 24-23 lead.
- The last three-point run belonged to Hiram, as a kill by Maggie Riley, a Westminster hitting error and a block by the Terriers' Erin Winfield was the final point in the 26-24 win and 3-0 sweep.
- Chiang had a big night in the Hiram victory hitting .326 with 18 kills on 43 swings and also bringing up a team-best 22 digs, while Sofia Smotek and Riley had eight kills each.
- Setting up the attack was Courtney Johnson with 19 assists and Mia Nelson, who notched a double-double with 15 assists and 13 digs.
- In the back row, Jacey English totaled 18 digs and served two of Hiram's four aces.
- For Westminster (18-11), Trent put down 15 kills and made it a double-double with 11 digs, Morgan O'Brien finished with 16 assists, 12 digs and seven kills and Brooke Gecina logged a match-high 35 digs.
Semifinal 2 - No. 2 Chatham 3, No. 3 Franciscan 1 (25-19, 18-25, 26-24, 25-20)
- A big night for Chatham's Zoie Bateman began with nine kills in the first set and the Cougars scored seven of the last nine points for a 25-19 win.
- Franciscan was in control for much of the second set, scoring five straight to start an 11-4 surge that lifted the Barons to a 25-18 win to even the match. Logan Hickey had seven kills and a block in the set for Franciscan.
- In the third, Bateman's sixth kill of the set had Chatham on top 18-14, but three blocks by Sarah Clyde and Caroline Linklater sparked a run of seven straight Franciscan points in a 10-4 run which had the Barons serving for the set at 24-22.
- The Cougars rallied back, using a kill and an ace by Maddie Roberts to fend off the set points and then scored the next two points to pull out the 26-24 win and take a 2-1 lead.
- Neither team could pull away in the fourth set until the very end. Chatham had a 20-18 lead when Bateman capped off her big night, hammering kills for the final four Cougars' points in a 25-20 match-clinching win.
- The Chatham attack ran through Bateman, who delivered a career-high 24 kills in the victory.
- Triggering the Cougars' offense was Delaney Schwind with 27 assists and Kate Giannetta, who passed out 16.
- Defensively, Kelly Dougherty brought up 25 digs for Chatham and Roberts had 17 along with eight kills.
- Pacing Franciscan (16-11) in their first PAC semifinal appearance was Hickey (17 kills/12 digs) and Anna Guard (10 kills/15 digs) with double-doubles, Kaitlan Hickey with 23 digs and three aces and Clyde with six assisted blocks.
PAC Championship Notes
- Saturday's winner will capture their first PAC Women's Volleyball Championship in program history.
- Their regular season meeting was the initial PAC match of the season for both teams on Sept. 19, which the Terriers won 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-21) in Hiram.
- Hiram is in its second straight PAC Tournament final. The Terriers hosted Grove City in last year's title tilt, but fell to the Wolverines, 3-0.
- The Terriers last conference tournament championship was in 2006 when Hiram defeated Wittenberg to win the North Coast Athletic Conference crown.
- Chatham is in their second PAC Championship game and first since 2023 when the Cougars dropped a 3-1 decision to Bethany in the final.
- Chatham's current 11-game winning streak is a school record.