LATROBE, Pa. (Apr. 13)- The Saint Vincent men's volleyball team was defeated by Hiram, 3-0 in the AMCC Championship game on Saturday afternoon.
 
Hiram won the championship in straight sets by scores of 25-20, 25-20, and 25-13.
 
Shawn McSwiggen led the Bearcats with nine kills and 14 digs. Matthew Minkin finished the championship game with three blocks and 11 digs.
 
Zach Wyant recorded 18 assists and Zebadiah Wyant tallied seven kills for the Bearcats as well.
 
The Terriers got off to a hot start in the first set, taking a quick 5-1 lead. Hiram increased that lead to 13-6 by the middle portions of the set. The Terriers continued on the attack, staying ahead by seven at 21-14.
 
The Bearcats cut into the lead with a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 21-19. After SVC and Hiram scored a point, the Terriers scored three in a row to end it and win the first set (25-20), taking a 1-0 lead.
 
In the second set, it was back-and-forth for the early to middle portions of the set as the set was tied 11-11. The teams continued to trade points, before Saint Vincent took a 15-14 lead after an attack error by the Terriers.
 
That's when Hiram took control, the Terriers went on a 4-0 run and scored five of the next six points to take a 19-16 lead. Saint Vincent then went on a 3-1 run to cut the lead back to one at 20-19. Hiram went on to score five of the final six points to win the second set (25-20), taking a 2-0 lead.
 
It was all Terriers in the final set. Hiram never lost the lead, as the closest the Bearcats got was at 12-8 as Hiram won the third set (25-13), winning the AMCC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Tournament.
 
Hiram led the Bearcats in almost every major statistical category.
 
Matthew Minkin and Shawn McSwiggen were the Bearcats recipients on the All-Tournament team.

The Bearcats set program-records in wins and went a perfect 9-0 in the AMCC in the regular season.
 
Saint Vincent will now await to see if/when they will be selected to the ECAC Men's Volleyball Championship Tournament.