by Matt Koll
Only the best are still taking to the hardwood in the Presidents Athletic Conference, as the women’s volleyball tournament has reached its final four.
The quarterfinal round was all about upsets, with the lower seed emerging victorious. Will the underdogs continue to surprise in the semifinals?
Let’s take a look at the field.
#1 THIEL (18-10, 9-1 PAC)
The Tomcats put it all together this year. Vaulting up from a 5th place finish last year to a near perfect conference record, head coach Tyler North has his squad in position for a championship run.
“During preseason I knew we had a chance to do some good things this year with how physical and how deep our team is this year,” said North. “The ability we have to go two or three deep at multiple positions, coupled with the fact that we have 5 seniors providing great leadership has really led to the regular season we were able to put together.”
One of those seniors is Jordyn Liedike, who is 7th in the PAC in hitting percentage and 9th in blocks and Raquel McDonald who ranks 3nd in hitting percentage . Some of that depth around the seniors comes with Maria Torres, who is 2nd in the conference in kills and points, as well as Danielle Aulet who is 2nd in digs per game.
North says the Tomcats can be vulnerable when they subject to unforced errors, emphasizing that they need to take care of their side of the net.
Thiel comes in as the top point scorer in the conference and the third-highest hitting percentage. They’ll have the added pressure of being the #1 seed, something that North is viewing as a privilege.
“I’ve been trying to preach to the team that you earned being the 1 seed and not to feel pressure the best I can. Trying to get the team to view it more as a reward for what they’ve accomplished this season so far rather than feeling the pressure of being the top seed. Especially in a PAC season as competitive as this one has been.”
Next game: Thursday vs. Chatham at 7 pm
#2 GROVE CITY (18-9, 8-2 PAC)
Grove City is back in the PAC Tournament for the 9th time in the past 11 years, but the 2-seed is the highest Grove City has been since winning the PAC title back in 2001.
The Wolverines have seen improvement in almost every year since head coach Leo Sayles came onto the scene in 2019.
“The support the college and department have provided for the program and me is top-notch, and expectations are always high,” said Sayles. “I also inherited a group of athletes who were hungry for success, so we were able to establish a strong team culture early on. Having the culture fit has made it easier to bring in athletes who are a great Grove City fit and thrive within the culture, and we have also been intentional about passing along the baton of leadership within the program.”
Grove City comes into the tournament winners of 4 matches in a row and beat Bethany, their semifinal matchup, earlier this season 3 sets to 1. They come into the tournament holding their opponents to the lowest hitting percentage in the league while ranking 3rd in digs and blocks.
Anna DeGraaf finished the regular season 4th in hitting percentage and blocks while Gabby Lucas ranks 6th in the conference in digs per game. But for Sayles, the burden of work must be shared and can’t be on any one individual if they want to continue to win. So what’s his message to his team as they prepare to play in this year’s tournament?
“Every team at this point desires to win. Better teams have great determination. Champions not only play with desire and determination, they are disciplined in the heat of the battle, and stay true to their identity – so our players need to play our style, trusting their training and their teammates to do their particular job as the pressure mounts.”
Next game: Thursday vs. #6 Bethany at 7 pm
#5 CHATHAM (14-11, 6-4 PAC)
A 3-1 upset win over the 4 seed Saint Vincent has the Cougars rolling into the semifinal round carrying the momentum of not only that win, but the three wins before that to end the regular season. In fact, Chatham has only lost 2 sets in those 4 matches.
Alyssa Leskovac racked up 25 kills in the quarterfinal win and comes in as the conference’s leader in kills per game while teammate Amelia Bogovich is right behind her ranking 4th in kills and 2nd in service aces.
Chatham also boasts the PAC’s leader in digs with Meghan Dominek and has the top assists collector in Shaelah Pepperman.
This is a team with great individual talent that’s playing well together right now. Those are the components of a dangerous team in the postseason.
Next game: Thursday @ Thiel at 7 pm
#6 BETHANY (15-12, 7-4 PAC)
Coming off a title match appearance last season, the Bison surprised with a 3-1 win over the 3 seed Allegheny to advance to the semifinals.
They’ve got a high-powered offense, ranking second behind the top seeded Tomcats of Thiel in points and 4th in hitting percentage. But they couple that by being second in the PAC in blocks per game.
Emma Marthins and Riley Felton are two the league’s top hitters, ranking 2nd and 5th in hitting percentage, respectively. Not only that, they are two of the top three blockers in the PAC as well ranking 2nd and 3rd respectively in that category.
The conference is deep this year as evidenced by the two upset in the quarterfinal round. There’s no reason to believe that can’t happen again in the semifinals.
Next game: Thursday @ Grove City at 7 pm
