LATROBE, Pa. (Apr. 11)- The Saint Vincent College men's volleyball team is set to host the semifinals and championship of the AMCC Men's Volleyball Championship Tournament this weekend in the Robert S. Carey Center.
 
The top-seeded Bearcats will be joined this weekend by second seeded Hiram, third-seeded Thiel, and fifth-seeded Penn State-Behrend in the semifinals. Saint Vincent will first take on Penn State-Behrend at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. That match will be followed by Hiram and Thiel at 7 p.m., both taking place in Latrobe.
 
The winners of both matches will meet at 3 p.m. on Saturday for the AMCC championship game, with the winner earning the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championship Tournament.
 
Saint Vincent finished the regular season with a perfect 9-0 record in AMCC play, while going 18-7 overall. The Bearcats are the first team since 2020-21 to finish with a perfect record in the AMCC. Hiram finished with a 7-0 record in the COVID-19 pandemic shortened season.
 
SVC has met Behrend once this year, coming just a couple of weeks ago when the Bearcats earned a convincing 3-0 sweep over the Lions on Saturday, March 23 in the Carey Center. Saint Vincent swept the Lions in straight sets by scores of 26-24, 25-15, and 27-25.
 
The Lions on the other hand, finished with a 5-4 record in AMCC play, while carrying a 12-15 overall record. Behrend earned a 3-1 win over fourth-seed Penn State-Altoona in the opening round of the AMCC playoffs on Tuesday night.
 
Behrend defeated Altoona by set scores of 22-25, 25-10, 25-19, and 25-22 to earn the four-set win.
 
The Bearcats were led by sophomore outside hitter, Shawn McSwiggen. McSwiggen led the AMCC in kills per set (3.86) and also ranked second in kills with 347 over the course of the season. He also ranked in the top-five in the AMCC in hitting percentage (.294) and service aces per set (0.40).
 
Saint Vincent is led by third-year head coach, Kate McCauley. In her third season, she has helped lead the Bearcats to a program-record 18 wins, while also leading the Bearcats to host the AMCC Tournament for the first time in program history.
 
Penn State-Behrend on the other hand is coming off a season where they finished as runners-up in the AMCC. The Lions were defeated in a five-set thriller by Geneva in last year's AMCC Championship game, hosted by the Lions. Behrend defeated the Bearcats in the semifinals last season.
 
The Lions are led by senior middle hitter, Owen Wieczkowski who ranks in the top-five in a couple categories in the AMCC. He ranks third in hitting percentage (.342) and blocks per set (0.88).
 
Behrend is led by long-time, veteran head coach, Phil Pisano. Pisano has also spent the last 18 seasons in the with the Behrend women's volleyball team as well. He is the Lions all-time winningest coach with a 354-202 overall record, while recording a 128-26 mark in the AMCC.
 
Pisano has been named AMCC Coach of the Year a combined 12 times, including 2022 and 2023 with the men's program.
 
In the 7 p.m. game, the second-seeded Hiram Terriers carry an 18-11 overall record with an 8-1 record in AMCC play, the lone loss coming at the hands of Saint Vincent.
 
Hiram and Thiel met just once this season, coming in the AMCC regular season finale last weekend, with the result being a 3-2 Hiram win. The teams have met 11 times in both programs' history, with Thiel winning six of those matches.
 
Hiram is led by Kyle Martini and Matthew Albano. Martini ranked fifth in the AMCC in the regular season in kills with 269. Albano on the other hand ranks second in the AMCC in assists per set with 9.06.
 
The Terriers are coached by third-year head coach, Glen Conley. Conley had 440 career wins and 30 years of coaching experience, most recently with the Eastside Cleveland Junior Volleyball Club in Mentor, Ohio. He helped lead the Terriers to a 20-win season and trip to the AMCC tournament last season.
 
Thiel on the other hand, finished 13-12 overall and 6-3 in the AMCC. The Tomcats defeated sixth-seeded Geneva, 3-1 in the first round of the AMCC tournament on Tuesday.
 
The Tomcats are led by Kyle Proudfoot who leads the conference in hitting percentage (.364), while also ranking fourth in blocks per set (0.84). Proudfoot recorded ten kills and five blocks in the Tomcats first-round win earlier this week.
 
Thiel is coached by fourth-year head coach Dylan Lasher, who is also serving as the interim women's head volleyball coach at Thiel. Lasher helped lead the Tomcats to the AMCC Championship Tournament in 2022 and 2023, including the 2023 team that won 16 games, falling to Geneva 3-1 in the semifinals a year ago.
 
All tournament games will be available to watch live at https://team1sports.com/stvincent/, while live stat links for all three matches can be found on the Saint Vincent website at athletics.stvincent.edu.