LATROBE, Pa. (Nov. 14)- The Saint Vincent women's volleyball team earned a 3-1 win in the Presidents' Athletic Conference Semifinals on Thursday night, advancing into Saturday's PAC Championship match for the first time in program history.

The second-seeded Bearcats (15-11, 8-2 PAC) won the first set 25-21, before third-seeded Chatham (12-13, 7-3 PAC) won the second set 25-18. Saint Vincent went on to win the final two sets by scores of 25-16 and 25-19.

Leading the Bearcats in the semifinals with a 13-kill, 14-dig double-double. Lauren Fox had a big night as well with 12 kills and a team-high three blocks for Saint Vincent. Stacie Ramos totaled a team-high 31 digs and Vivian Poach recorded 36 assists and 17 digs to help SVC advance to the PAC Championship match.

Meegan Williams recorded six kills and 24 digs, while Emma Harclerode recorded a match-high three service aces.

It was back-and-forth for the majority of the first set as neither team took more than a 1-3 point lead in the first portion of the set. Chatham took the first advantage taking a 19-16 lead in the set. The Bearcats stormed back with a 6-1 run to take a 22-20 lead. After a Cougars point cut the Bearcats lead to 22-21, Saint Vincent scored the final three points in the set on back-to-back errors by Chatham, followed by a kill from Staples-Klasnic to win the first set (25-21), taking a 1-0 lead in the match.

Chatham controlled for the majority of the early portions in the second set. The Cougars opened up to a 7-3 lead in the set, before Saint Vincent climbed back to take an 11-10 advantage in the set. Chatham answered back with a 14-5 run to cut the Bearcats lead to 24-15. Saint Vincent scored the next three points, two of which came on kills from Staples-Klasnic, before a Saint Vincent service error won the set (25-18), tying the match at 1-1.

Saint Vincent opened up to an 8-3 advantage in the second set to take control. The Bearcats lead increased to seven at 13-6 and further increased to nine at 19-10 as they looked to pick up the important set win. The Saint Vincent lead would hover around that 8-9 point mark the rest of the set, before Williams recorded one of her six kills to win the set (25-16) for SVC, taking a 2-1 lead in the match.

The Bearcats continued that momentum into the fourth set as the Bearcats quickly opened to a 4-1 lead after two kills by Fox, a kill from Williams, and attack error by the Cougars. Saint Vincent continued to grow their lead as they took a 17-13 lead, before the Cougars went on a 4-2 run, cutting the lead to 19-17. SVC scored five of the next six points on two kills from Fox, a kill from Hershberger, a service ace from Harclerode, and attack error by the Cougars as the Bearcats took a 24-18 lead. 

After a Cougars point, a kill from Staples-Klasnic on the next serve allowed the Bearcats to win the set (25-19) and the match 3-1, advancing to the PAC Championship Match for the first time in program history.

Chatham led the match in kills 49-45, assists 47-45, and digs 106-101. Saint Vincent led in service aces 10-7 and blocks 8-6. As a team the Bearcats recorded a .160 hitting percentage, while Chatham totaled a .113 hitting percentage of their own.

This last time the Bearcats advanced to the PAC semifinals prior to Thursday night was in 2019, when they fell one game short of the PAC Championship Match.

Saint Vincent will now take on top-seeded Allegheny College on Saturday, November 16 at 6 p.m. on the road in the PAC Championship Match. The winner of the match in Meadville on Saturday night will earn the PAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament.