Houghton’s men’s volleyball team reached a milestone this week by earning the first postseason berth in program history, a breakthrough moment for a program still in just its third season.
The Highlanders secured the No. 3 seed in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference tournament, finished the regular season with a program-record eight wins, and went 7-5 in conference play under first-year head coach Mark Corbin.
That postseason run came to an end on April 8 in Erie, Pennsylvania, where Houghton fell in straight sets to No. 2 seed Penn State Behrend in the AMCC semifinals.
Penn State Behrend won 25-16, 25-17, 25-15, closing the door on a season that still marked a major step forward for Houghton’s young program.
The bigger story, though, is what Houghton accomplished to get there. Before this season, the program had never broken through into the conference tournament.
This year, the Highlanders not only got in, they did it with their best conference record so far and enough consistency to claim the third seed.
Corbin said the progress was tied to how quickly the team bought into the standards he brought in from day one, especially in areas like communication, movement, and team discipline.
Houghton also went into the postseason with some momentum. The team’s final regular-season stretch included a 3-1 home win over Hilbert College on April 1, a result that kept the Highlanders moving in the right direction heading into tournament week.
By the time the bracket was set, the AMCC field featured Buffalo State as the No. 1 seed, Penn State Behrend at No. 2, Houghton at No. 3, and Penn State Altoona at No. 4, with the conference’s NCAA automatic bid on the line.
Read More: Austin to host first-ever National Collegiate Padel Championships this weekThe semifinal itself showed the gap Houghton was trying to close against one of the conference’s more established teams.
Penn State Behrend hit .412 for the match and finished with 44 kills compared to Houghton’s 20.
Even in the loss, Houghton had some solid individual performances. Michael McGlynn and Jonah Sissel led the attack with five kills each, while Jerry Buno handed out 16 assists and Ferron Mitchell added five digs.
For a young program, those details matter because they show this was not just a one-line headline about making the postseason.
Houghton now has a full season that can be pointed to as proof of growth: a winning push inside conference play, a record number of total wins, and the program’s first trip into the AMCC tournament.
Corbin had already made it clear before the semifinal that the team believed it was finishing the regular season playing its best volleyball, and that confidence was part of what carried the Highlanders into their first playoff appearance.
The ending was not the one Houghton wanted, but the season still changed the program’s timeline.
A team that had never been in the postseason is now coming off a year in which it broke that barrier, earned a top-three seed in the conference, and showed it could be part of the AMCC race.
For Houghton men’s volleyball, that is a meaningful step, and it gives the program something real to build on going into next season.
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