Drama was not lacking at the Athletic and Fitness Center (AFC) for the Cougars 3-2 victory over Thiel College in the opening round of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) playoffs on Nov. 12.
Following a win in the opening set, the Cougars dropped the following two sets to go down 2-1 to the Tomcats. If Chatham lost one more set, its season would be over.
The talk in the huddle following the third set wasn’t of despair but of confidence: confidence that they were going to win the following two sets to keep their season alive.
“It was just keeping them calm,” head coach Jason Bortak said. “Understand that yeah, we’ve got some work to do, but we’re nowhere near done… So it was honestly calm and just reassuring them that we’ll get the job done.”
Those words from Bortak was something this team already believed; the team believed its season was not going to end in round one.
The talk was that “we were fine, we’ve been here before,” Natalie Keough ‘25 said. “We knew that we could do it, and we just really talked about increasing that energy more than what we had before, and I think that’s what really helped us win.”
Keough played one of her best games as a Cougar and finished the contest leading Chatham with 37 assists and four blocks.
“I’m a senior, so any game can be my last game, and I’m really happy we won,” she said.
Players on the court fed off the infectious energy of the Cougar Den which showed its full support.
“When all of our fans are very energetic and very into it just as much as we are, we feed off of that, and we love it so, so, so, so much,” Sierra Ricci ‘26 said. “It is so helpful.”
Ricci, the team’s libero, tallied a team-high 34 digs along with three aces.
While the Cougars had some of its veteran players atop the statsheet, Ricci was adamant of the work of everyone on her squad including two younger players.
“Delaney Kaiser ‘27 is definitely someone that stepped up completely. She brings so much energy and it’s so great,” Ricci said. “Annika Solfronk ‘28, she’s a very key aspect of our offense.”
Kaiser finished this game with a pair of aces, while Solfronk netted eight kills.
Getting new faces involved in this Cougar offense has been a sentiment talked about by Bortak all season. When the lights and pressure were on the most, this group only seemed to get better.
“They do a good job of just playing at times right. They don’t act as if it’s a PAC match or a regular season match or the championship match,” Bortak said. “We try to take it one match at a time regardless of what’s at stake,and they’ve done a great job with staying poised, showing the confidence that we’re going to rally around each other as a full unit.”
It will be a quick turnaround for the team as they head to Saint Vincent College to take on the Bearcats Nov. 14 in the PAC semifinals.
Chatham recently lost to Saint Vincent on Oct. 30, and Bortak is looking to avenge that loss.
“They’re still pretty fresh in our minds and we know we got some unfinished business there.”
The start time for the game at Saint Vincent is still undecided. Follow @ChathamCougar on Instagram for updates.
