Box Score ERIE, Pa. – The Thiel College men's volleyball team suffered a heartbreaking five-set, non-conference loss to Penn State Behrend Tuesday night.

The loss drops the Tomcats to 12-16 overall while the Lions improve to 13-8.
 
The second meeting between the two squads this season played out much like the first meeting on February 12, a game in which the Tomcats led 2-1 before falling in five sets. Much like the first meeting, the Tomcats took the first set Tuesday, staking claim to a 1-0 set lead with a kill by freshman Tyrieq Patton (Homestead, Pa./Steel Valley) on match point. The Lions fired back, taking set two (25-20) and set three (25-17). The Tomcats responded in set four, as the back-and-forth battle ended with Thiel winning set four, 27-25.
 
The intensity of the fourth set carried over into the fifth, as the two teams traded points throughout the set until a Tomcat attack error gave the Lions a 16-14 win.

Junior opposite hitter John Turner (Cambridge Springs, Pa./Cambridge Springs) paced the Tomcats with 16 kills. Junior outside hitter Dylan Lasher (Ford City, Pa./Elderton) registered his second double-double of the season with a 10 kill-14 dig performance, while senior middle hitter Evan Proksell (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler Area) tallied a season-best 10 kills on 28 attempts. Sophomore setter Charlie Tindall (Tarentum, Pa./Deer Lakes) dished out 21 assists and added eight digs.
 
Defensively, junior defensive specialist Ian Phillips (Meadville, Pa./Meadville) led the Tomcats with 15 digs.

Thiel returns to action on Friday, April 4 when they host Cairn University. The match will serve as senior night for the six Tomcat seniors, as they will be honored before the contest begins at 7 p.m.