ERIE, Pa. – The Thiel College men's volleyball team was defeated 3-2 in non-conference action Tuesday on the road by the Penn State Behrend Lions.
 
The Lions won the first set 25-17 before the Tomcats tied the match with a 25-23 win in the second game. The Lions won the third set 25-15, but the Tomcats forced a decisive fifth set with a 25-14 win in the fourth game. Penn State Behrend went on to edge Thiel 15-13 in the fifth set to secure the win.
 
Jacob DeRue (Penfield, N.Y./Fairport) led Thiel with 17 kills while Mitchell Patterson (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) and Cody Patterson (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) chipped in with nine and eight kills, respectively.
 
Also for the Tomcats, Zach Rombach (Severn, Md./Archbishop Spalding) dished out 49 assists, Thad Paunovich (Avonmore, Pa./Kiski Area) tallied 20 digs and Regan Hess (Burlington, Wis./Wetosha Central) contributed six blocks.
 
Tyler Herrmann and Dillon Hildebrand led Penn State Behrend with 15 kills apiece. Calvin Nowicki and Anthony Sprentz chipped in with 25 and 22 assists, respectively.
 
Thiel will return to action Friday in a road tri-match against Eastern Mennonite (6 p.m.) and York College (8 p.m.).