GREENVILLE, Pa. – The Thiel College men's volleyball team dropped a non-conference match (3-1) to Penn State Altoona at Beeghly Gymnasium on Thursday night.
 
Thiel fell in four sets only taking the second set 25-20. Penn State Altoona took the first set (25-23) and sets three and four (25-20, 25-18).
 
The Lions opened the match on a 6-0 run to build an early lead that they would not surrender taking a 1-0 set advantage. Thiel bounced back and opened the second set on a 6-0 run of their own before Penn State Altoona got back into the game with five straight points making it 6-5. The Tomcats would go on to take the set 25-20 to even the match at a set apiece.
 
Set three was tightly contested as the set was tied at 10-10 before the Lions went on a 4-0 run to make it 14-11 and would not relinquish the lead taking the set 25-20.
 
In the match deciding fourth set, The Tomcats were unable to extend the match as they fell 25-18 to drop the match 3-1.
 
Leaders for the Tomcats included Mitchell Patterson (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) with a game-high 17 kills, Jacob DeRue (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) also collected double-digit kills in the four-set match. Jacob Burkley (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf) added a game-high three aces, well Stephen Borgen (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler Area) (41) and Ryan Sumarsono (Victor, N.Y./Victor) (14) recorded game-highs in assists and digs, respectively.
 
The Tomcats are back in action on Saturday as they travel to Penn State Behrend for a tri-match against the hosting Lions and Siena Heights University. Thiel faces Siena Heights at 1:00 p.m. and PSU Behrend at 3:00 p.m.