The 2023 PAC Volleyball Tournament is here. The defending champion Bethany Bison got edged out for the top seed by the Chatham Cougars, who own that conference #1 seed for the first time in school history. On the other end of the bracket, Grove City needed to beat Geneva in their regular season finale in order to even make into the tournament. But the Wolverines are here for the 10th time in 12 years. Let’s look at this year’s field ahead of the action starting on Tuesday.
#1 CHATHAM COUGARS (17-5, 9-1 PAC)
The Cougars come into this tournament playing fantastic volleyball. Chatham hasn’t lost a single set in their last five matches to end the regular season. It went a long way toward clinching the top seed over defending champion Bethany.“I’m not sure if we’re playing at our best, but we’ve had some nice patches throughout the season,” said head coach Joseph Bortak. “Hopefully I can answer that definitively after Saturday. The team competes better when they’re loose and having fun playing for one another, but I think more importantly, when they stay present. We continually work to stay focused on each drill, each practice, each match, and try to make the most out of each opportunity we get to play the game we love.”
Chatham leads the conference in many statistical categories, including kills, assists, opponents kills and opponent hitting percentage. In fact, aside from opponent digs, the Cougars rank no lower than 4th in the PAC in any statistical category. Their lone conference loss came against #5 seed Westminster on the road back on October 18. They did remarkably well against the other PAC Tournament teams in the regular season, beating #3 Allegheny twice, not losing a set against #6 Grove City and #4 W&J, and beating #2 Bethany three sets to one back in early October.
They’ve gotten key contributions from a variety of sources, including newcomers and savvy team veterans.. Impressive freshman Paige Watson leads the team in hitting percentage while also ranking 4th in the PAC in that category. Fellow freshman Amelia Bogovich is 3rd in the PAC in service aces. Senior Meghan Dominek was the PAC regular season leader in digs per game while senior Jena Willliams cracked the conference Top 10 in kills and senior Ava Plunkard finished 6th in assists per game.
“We need all 6 athletes on the court playing as a unit, while everyone else is providing energy and enthusiasm and giving good feedback until their number is called,” said Bortak. “We have defensive leaders, offensive leaders, emotional leaders. Everyone plays a vital role for our program to be its best.”
There’s no doubt that Chatham is a deep team and rolling heading into the tournament.
#2 BETHANY BISON (20-7, 9-1 PAC)
The Bison have put together an outstanding title defense season, despite losing the head-to-head matchup with Chatham and ceding the #1 seed. It shouldn’t worry them too much. After all, they won this tournament as the #6 seed last season and won every road match within the conference this year. So, if they do end up going on the road, this is not the team that will be fazed.
Bethany finished the regular season as the top point scoring team in the conference while also ranking 2nd in seven different statistical categories, both offensively and defensively. Alaina Torres is the best distributor in the PAC, her 9.09 assists per set rank first in the conference. Senior Emma Marthins also plays a huge role for this team, ranking 2nd in blocks and 5th in hitting percentage.
This is a veteran group who just climbed the mountain and made it to the top a year ago. They have plenty of firepower and experience to make a run at it again.
#3 ALLEGHENY GATORS (21-8, 8-2 PAC)
The lone conference slip-ups for the Gators came against top seeded Chatham and the #2 seed Bethany, but they did also split against their quarterfinal matchup Grove City, once in a technically non-conference game early in the season on the road. Allegheny came back in the second match and beat the Wolverines 3-0 at home back on October 6th.
Allegheny finished the regular season as the team with the best hitting percentage in the PAC (18.8%) while also tying with Chatham for the conference lead in service aces per set. Leading the way in both of those categories individually are junior Dagney Javes with a PAC 3rd-best hitting percentage and sophomore Jacy Diaz who leads the PAC In service aces per set.
Senior Emma Chambers and freshman Angelee Bawek are 2nd and 3rd in the conference in kills while Bawek ranks 3rd in total points and Chambers ranks 5th. Javes cracks the Top 10 in points as well, coming in at number six.
The Gators will need all of their key contributors to rally past Grove City and then take on a team they have yet to beat this season after that.
#4 WASHINGTON & JEFFERSON PRESIDENTS (13-13, 6-4 PAC)
The Presidents come into the tournament trying to overcome a rough stretch of play to end the regular season. They lost each of their final three matches including Franciscan and Bethany on the road and Chatham at home.
W&J and Westminster battled hard in their regular season matchup. The Presidents took the first two sets but the Titans rallied to win the next two before W&J took the fifth set 15-11. Freshman Sophie Little has made a tremendous impact this season and has the second-best hitting percentage in the conference. Sophomore Faith Fetsko cracked the PAC Top 10 as well, ranking 5th in kills per set.
#5 WESTMINSTER TITANS (17-12, 5-5 PAC)
Westminster went through some streaks this season. They started their conference season with three straight losses, then bounced back with four straight wins with three of those coming in conference play. Not long after that, they lost three consecutive matches again (two in the PAC) and then won three of four matches to end the regular season.
It all shook out to a 5-5 record within the conference and the fifth seed in the PAC Tournament. The Titans lost a back and forth battle with #4 W&J in their regular season matchup but they’re certainly capable of changing that result this time around in the quarterfinals.
The Titans are pesky defensively as they finished as the regular season team leader in digs per set, which makes them tough to put away. They are also tough at the net, finishing the regular season as the top team in blocks. Sophomore Shelby Rambo is the biggest reason why as she’s the PAC leader in blocks per game.
#6 GROVE CITY WOLVERINES (19-10, 5-5 PAC)
Grove City got it done against Geneva in the regular season finale to secure a spot in the tournament this year. The Wolverines beat Allegheny earlier in the season but the Gators got the last laugh in their second matchup, beating Grove City 3-0 in their conference matchup.
They got two wins against Thiel and Geneva to finish off the regular season and the Wolverines finished top four in the conference in points, kills, blocks, digs, hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage and assists.
Player to watch: senior Anna DeGraaf owns the best hitting percentage in the conference along with being 4th-best in blocks.
