Men's Volleyball | 4/4/2026 3:58:00 PM
TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - Defending champion Thiel College, who posted an 11-1 regular season conference record, earned the top seed and home-court advantage through the 2026 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Men's Volleyball tournament, as the league's tournament schedule was announced Saturday.
The six-team championship tournament, which begins with a pair of quarterfinal round matches Tuesday, will determine this year's PAC champion, with that winner also receiving 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.
In men's volleyball's first season as a PAC sport in 2025, Thiel rolled to the inaugural championship. The Tomcats went 12-0 in the regular season before posting 3-0 wins over Saint Vincent in the semifinals and Grove City in the championship game to collect the title.
Thiel followed up last year's championship with a 21-8 overall record, which set a new single-season program record for victories, and the Tomcats went 11-1 in PAC play. Thiel has a six-game winning streak since dropping a PAC match against Saint Vincent on March 6th. The Tomcats avenged that loss with a 3-2 victory at SVC on April 1st, which clinched the top seed in the Tournament.
As the top seeds, Thiel and No. 2 Saint Vincent earned quarterfinal byes. The Bearcats (14-4, 10-2) used a 14-game winning streak in the middle of the season to claim the second seed. With those quarterfinal byes, Thiel and Saint Vincent have earned home semifinal matches on Thursday, April 9th.
The PAC Tournament opens with quarterfinal games on Tuesday, April 7th at 7 pm. Third-seeded Chatham (14-8, 8-4) will host one quarterfinal when the Cougars welcome No. 6 Geneva (9-18, 3-9) to Pittsburgh. Chatham won four of their final five games to close the regular season, including a 3-1 triumph over Saint Vincent March 28th, which was SVC's first conference loss of the year.
Geneva (9-18, 3-9) is in the PAC Tournament for the second year in a row, which the Golden Tornadoes clinched with a 3-0 win over Bethany on March 27. Chatham won both match-ups with Geneva in the regular season, winning a 3-2 decision at Geneva on Feb. 14th and completing the sweep with a 3-1 win on their home floor March 12th.
The Chatham/Geneva winner advances to the PAC semifinals Thursday to play at Saint Vincent.
The other Tuesday quarterfinal has fourth-seed Grove City (12-15, 5-7) hosting No. 5 Hiram (8-13, 4-8). The Wolverines played well down the stretch in the regular season, winning three of their last four. Hiram also brings some momentum into the postseason with wins in two of their last three.
Tuesday's quarterfinal will be the second meeting between the teams in four days. Grove City defeated Hiram 3-1 Saturday afternoon, which secured the fourth seed and home quarterfinal game for the Wolverines. It also gave Grove City a sweep of the regular season meetings between the teams following a 3-0 Wolverine win on March 10th.
The winner of the Grove City/Hiram quarterfinal will travel to top-seed Thiel on Thursday for the PAC semifinals.
The semifinal winners will meet in the PAC Tournament Championship on Saturday, April 11th, 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 13th with NCAA Tournament play starting Thursday-Saturday, April 16-18.