In just its second season under coach Kyle Hawk, and with all new players this year, the Pennsylvania College of Technology women’s volleyball team not only has doubled its win total from a year ago, but is headed into postseason play for the first time since 2013.

Seeded 10th, the Wildcats will travel to seventh-seeded Penn State Abington for a United East Conference first-round match at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. Penn College is 6-21 overall and 3-7 in the UE heading into the matchup, while PS Abington is 14-9, 6-4. When the two teams met during the regular season on Oct. 14, Abington won, 3-0 (25-10, 25-16, 25-14).

Gallaudet University won the regular-season title with a perfect 10-0 conference record, but is ineligible for the playoffs due to a lack of available players, as several are competing in the 2025 Deaflympics in Tokyo, Japan, at the same time. That bumped all of the other teams up a spot in the seeding.

Also in the 10-team field are top-seeded Penn State Harrisburg (19-5, 9-1), second-seeded St. Mary’s (Md.) College (14-14, 8-2), third seed Lancaster Bible College (16-11, 7-3), fourth seed Notre Dame (Md.) University (16-6, 7-3), fifth seed Cairn University (16-7, 7-3), sixth seed Penn State Brandywine (12-11, 6-4), eighth seed Cedar Crest College (5-22, 4-6) and ninth seed Penn State Berks (4-20, 4-6).

Penn College’s regular season conference wins were over Valley Forge, Cedar Crest and Rosemont College.

Statistically, for the season so far, Penn College leaders (all freshmen) include:

• Total points (kills, aces and blocks) — Lilly Stockum, of Dauphin, 333.5, and Haylie Thomsen, of High Bridge, New Jersey, 151.

• Kills — Stockum 276, Thomsen 106.

• Assists –Ellen Banfill, of Mill Hall, 392.

• Service aces –Stockum 47, Thomsen 43 and Nashalie Vializ, of New Holland, 42.

• Digs — Vializ 309, Thomsen 198, Banfill 142 and Stockum 139.

• Blocks — Kendall Shade, of Reinholds, 23, Stockum 17, Sara Seyfert, of Nazareth, 15, Mya Gilliam, of Mount Holly Springs, 12, and Banfill 11.

“I think the regular season went well for us. There was and still is a lot of learning to do. The team has worked hard both on and off the court, and I am incredibly proud of them. We had several untimely injuries during conference play, but we rebounded from them and put ourselves in a good position going into the postseason,” Hawk said.

“Going into the postseason, one of our biggest emphases will be on our mindset. Having all freshman and first-year players, we know that everyone is going to be nervous when we step on the court for the first playoff match. Step on the court, enjoy it for a few moments and then it’s time to get to work. We have to understand the significance of a postseason match, but we have to play the same and treat it just like another conference match,” Hawk said.