ERIE, Pa. – The Thiel College men's volleyball team opened Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) play Thursday with a 3-1 loss on the road to the Penn State Behrend Lions.
 
Thiel won the first set 26-24, but Penn State Behrend went on to win the next three games (25-17, 25-19, 25-17) to earn the conference win.
 
Mitch Patterson (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) led the Tomcats with 12 kills. Chance Hoffman (Cochranton, Pa./Cochranton) recorded a match-best 28 assists to go along with four blocks and a pair of aces. D'ondre Merren (Brooklyn, Md./North County) and Patterson recorded seven digs apiece.
 
Dillon Hildebrand and JP Goodsel tallied 12 kills apiece for the Lions. Jake Albert recorded 19 assists. Josh Mathews and Diego Ortiz notched 10 and nine digs, respectively.
 
The Tomcats will face the Juniata Eagles on the road Friday. The non-conference match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.