GROVE CITY, Pennsylvania - April 10, 2025 - Hiram fought to the finish, but a late run wasn't enough to overcome a crushing opening set loss in what ultimately shaped out to be a four-set defeat to Grove City in the semifinals of the first ever PAC Tournament: 31-29, 25-19, 18-25, 25-22.
The Terriers led in the first set, 23-18, before Grove City rattled off each of the next five points to even the score. Hiram had three chances to make it a 1-0 lead in the match, but the Wolverines fought off those set points and eventually claimed the first set, 31-29.
Grove City rode that momentum to the finish line, winning two of the next three sets to secure a spot in the PAC Championship against the top-seeded Thiel Tomcats. The Terriers found their form and won the third set, 25-18, but the home team did just enough to cross the line in the closing moments of the fourth set.
Kyle Martini capped off his career in memorable fashion, recording a match-high and season-high 24 kills. It marked the senior's second-most kills in a collegiate match, trailing only his 31 kills against Penn State Behrend in March of 2023.
Matthew Albano matched Martini in terms of the eye-popping production, tallying a career-high 51 assists, which also marked the most assists in a single match in the history of the program, beating his own record of 49. Derek Chiang added 16 kills in a match that saw the Terriers win the head-to-head battle in that statistic, 57-49. Hiram's 32 attack errors proved to be critical, too, with the Grove City defense coming through when it needed it the most.
The loss marks the final match for one of the most talented senior classes in the history of the program, with Martini, Albano, Jackson Deubner, Garrett Scheidegger, Connor Tilton, Jarod Leynes and Mitchell Ledbetter all logging the last moments of their respective collegiate careers. Beyond the countless individual accolades, the group collectively lifted the program to its second ever NCAA Tournament berth in 2024 and a 16-win season in 2025.
In that third set victory, Derek Chiang had seven kills and Martini had three kills to give the Terriers some hope for pulling off the reverse sweep. Albano had 13 assists during that span, helping Hiram to a .286 attack percentage for the set (16 kills, 6 attack errors).
The fourth set saw Hiram even the score at 11-11 and 13-13, but the Wolverines never trailed by more than one point and closed out the match on their home floor. Keith Otto, who matched a team-high with 14 kills, had each of Grove City's last two kills to take the semifinal win.
Hiram will now direct its attention to the offseason and the winter of 2026, when it will return to the court for a second season as a full-time PAC competitor under head coach Tyler North.
