Greenville, Pa. -- The Tomcat men's volleyball team opened AVI Invitational play with a 3-0 loss at the hands of the fourth ranked Golden Flyers of Nazareth College.

Thiel came out sharp to start play and the teams played a close first game as the score went back and forth. However, Nazareth was able to hold Thiel off and get the 29-27 victory in game one. The Golden Flyers would then keep rolling as the took games two and three by scores of 25-21 and 25-20 respectively.

Sophomore outside hitter Dante McCoy (Reading, Pa./Holy Name) once again led the Tomcat offense as he posted 16 kills with a .387 hitting percentage and freshman setter Corey Hamilton (Meadville, Pa./Maplewood) added 24 assists.

As a team, Thiel also recorded six total blocks and freshman outside hitter Cameron Capp (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg) led the way with six digs.

The Golden Flyers were led by their junior outside hitter Hans Schroeder who posted 12 kills despite not playing in the third game. Sophomore setter EJ Wells-Spicer had a great game for Nazareth as he set up the offense well posting 43 assists on the day.

Both Nazareth and the Tomcats will continue play tomorrow against Juniata College and Carthage College. In the first game of the day Juniata defeated Carthage 3-0.

Day two of the AVI Invitational will start with a match between the Tomcats and the Redmen of Carthage. The game is scheduled for 11 a.m. with three games to follow after.