GREENVILLE, Pa. The Thiel College women's volleyball team split two matches at Beeghly Gymnasium on Friday night as they defeated Hilbert College 3-0 but fell to Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) opponent Westminster College 3-1.
 
The Tomcats held the Hawks to low scores all match and even held them to single digits in the first set (25-8). Thiel took the match in three sets (25-8, 25-10, and 25-15). Shelby Friedel (Columbia Station, Ohio/Columbia) and Morgan Harayda (Erie, Pa./Harborcreek) both collected a match-high nine kills to lead the offense. Courtney Grubbs (Freeport, Pa./Freeport) added 29 assists to go along with a six aces in the the three-set sweep.
 
Against Westminster, Thiel fell just short of taking set number one as they narrowly fell 25-23 to fall behind 1-0. The Tomcats bounced back in the second as they took the set 25-19 to even the match at a set apiece.
 
Another tightly contested set went to the Titans in the third as they pulled away from the Tomcats late to grab a 2-1 advantage. Thiel was unable to advance the match in the fourth as the Titans ran away with the set rattling off 11 straight points to take a commanding 15-5 lead, Thiel would go on to fall 25-14 to drop the set and the match, 3-1.
 
Grubbs continued where she left against Hilbert as the freshman setter collected 35 assists, 20 digs, and five kills to pace the Tomcats in the four-set loss.  
 
With the split, Thiel sits at 14-16 overall and 6-8 in the PAC.
 
Up next for the Tomcats is a PAC matchup against Geneva College on Wednesday at Beeghly Gymnasium, first serve is set for 7:00 p.m. Before the game the team will honor its five senior members.