GREENVILLE, Pa. — The Thiel men's volleyball team will begin play in the Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) Tournament Saturday at 10 a.m. with a first-round match against Lakeland College.

The Tomcats enter the tournament as the No. 3 seed in the East Division while the No. 12-ranked Muskies enter the tournament as the No. 2 seed in the West Division.

As the old sports adage goes, it's hard to beat the same team three times in one season. The Tomcats will look to prove that saying true, as they have had the misfortune of coming out on the wrong end of their two previous matchups with the Muskies this season. The Tomcats (13-17 overall, 5-5 CVC) lost at Lakeland 3-1 in their season opener and fell again to the Muskies 3-0 less than three weeks later at the CVC Crossover Weekend in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The Tomcats return four seniors who have now made the conference tournament in each of their four seasons, led by Corey Hamilton (Meadville, Pa./Maplewood). A four-year starter at setter, Hamilton enters postseason play 11th in the CVC in assists per set (5.46) and fifth on the team in digs per set (.96). 

Fellow seniors Evan Proksell (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler Area), Andrew Pohlod (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) and Kyle Turkalj (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield Area) have all continued to play well this season. Proksell is third on the team with 159 kills and has the 17^th best blocks per set average (.89) in the CVC. Pohlod has recorded a team-best three double-doubles this season, while Turkalj's 1.69 kills per set average is the fifth best total of any Tomcat.

Juniors Michael Whitelock (Pittsburgh, Pa./Schenley) and Dylan Lasher (Ford City, Pa./Elderton) will each make their third appearance in the conference tournament after both appeared in all 30 regular-season matches this season for Thiel. Whitelock is second in the CVC and 11^th in the nation with a .370 hitting percentage. Lasher leads the Tomcats with a 2.05 kills per set average and is second on the team with a 1.70 digs per set average.

Leading the way for the Muskies is Alec Redlich, who is third in the conference in both kills per set and points. Defensive specialist Cole Aiazzi ranks third in the conference with a 2.28 digs per set average.

The other first-round matchup features No. 1-ranked Juniata College against third-seeded Dominican, who will play after the Thiel vs. Lakeland match Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

The championship match will be held at Beeghly Gymnasium on the Thiel College campus on Sunday at 1 p.m. Fans can view live video from all four tournament matches free of charge by visiting www.thecvc.org.