By: John Syms, Staff Writer
Originally Published May 1, 2024
The Saint Vincent College (SVC) Men’s Volleyball team were crowned the regular season champions of the Alleghany Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC), with a 9-0 conference record. The Bearcats were given the one-seed in the conference championship tournament, and on April 12, they faced off against the fifth-seeded Penn State Behrend in the Carey center gymnasium.
Penn State Behrend previously defeated fourth-seeded Penn State Altoona in their first playoff game, before moving onto the semi-finals against SVC. The Bearcats would defeat the Behrend Lions at home with a score of 3-2, as Shawn McSwiggen, sophomore middle-level education major, recorded 21 kills.
Unfortunately, on April 13, SVC would lose the AMCC championship against the second-seeded Hiram College with a score of 3-0. Hiram finished the regular season with an 8-1 record, with the Terriers only loss coming from a February 28th match against SVC with a score of 3-0. The Terriers were the only team in the AMCC men’s volleyball playoffs to not lose a single set, as they not only swept SVC with a score of 3-0, but also swept third-seeded Thiel College.
McSwiggen was named the 2024 AMCC Men’s Volleyball player of the year, and Head Coach Kate McCauley won Coach of the Year. McCauley led her team to the AMCC championship game in her third season as head coach of the Bearcats.
Matthew Minkin, fifth year political science major; Zach Wyant, sophomore history major; and McSwiggen were named All-AMCC First Team while Matthew Klasnic, fifth year business management major and Zebediah Wyant, sophomore mathematics major made Third Team.
During the 2024 season, McSwiggen registered 377 kills and had 13 assists in 26 games. Despite the tough loss on April 13, McSwiggen believed that he and his team had a successful season.
“Overall, the volleyball season was an amazing success, as it was the best record in program history of 19-9, and five players [were] awarded AMCC All-Conference Honors.”
“[A favorite] personal feat of mine was securing the Player of the Year award for the conference, which I am grateful to receive, and we went undefeated in conference play, making us the regular-season champs,” McSwiggen said.
This will be the last time that the SVC men’s volleyball team will compete in the AMCC; the Bearcats competed in the conference for four years. Men’s Volleyball will begin to be sponsored by the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) next year as its 24th sport, and McSwiggen is excited for it to happen.
“I am stoked for joining the PAC next season, since we do not have to drive up to Buffalo, Erie, or Altoona for conference games.”
Also joining the PAC next season for Men’s Volleyball include Genevea, Thiel, Chatham, Hiram, Grove City, and Bethany. With the tough loss against Hiram College, McSwiggen still believes that there are high hopes for next season.
“Although we came up short in the end by losing to Hiram in the championship our team as a whole proved that we could do great things.”
McSwiggen additionally said that “just four years ago, when the team started in 2020, not a single game was won, but over time if you look at our schedule over the years it shows how far we have come as a team.”
Comments