PITTSBURGH (Nov. 12) – The Thiel College Women's Volleyball team dropped a five-setter to Chatham University for the second time in as many matches Tuesday evening in the opening round of the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Tournament at the Athletic and Fitness Center in Pittsburgh.
 
The Tomcats end the season with a 17-9 overall record while the Cougars rise to 12-12 and advance to take on Saint Vincent Thursday night in the PAC semifinals.
 
The home side took the match by set scores of 25-15, 23-25, 9-25, 25-9 and 15-12.
 
Thiel jumped to a 2-0 set-five lead off of an Erica Gregory (Clinton Township, Mich./Fraser) service ace. Kills from Daisy Jenness (Pendleton, Ore./Pendleton) and Caitlin Stephens (West Middlesex, Pa./West Middlesex) gave Thiel leads of 4-2 and 5-3 but a 3-0 run from the home side turned a 6-4 Thiel edge into a 7-6 Cougars lead. Thiel knotted things at 10 on an Arin DeLattre (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) kill but back-to-back points for Chatham pushed the home side to within 3 of taking the match. Thiel had a chance to tie things at 13 but a service error gave the home side match point, which they capitalizing on the following serve to take the match.
 
Jenness tallied a match-best 16 kills for her 21st 10-plus kill effort of the season. She added 10 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. Jenness will finish the season as the PAC leader in kills (418) and kills per set (4.10). Her mark in kills is the second most by a Tomcat in a season in program history. Her mark in kills per set is the third most by a Tomcat in a season in program history.
 
DeLattre posted 13 kills and hit .250 for the match. She added a pair of block assists and one solo stuff.
 
Set one, like Saturday's match between the two sides, went back and forth early as neither side was able to grow a sizable lead. The set was tied at 10 before a 4-0 Chatham run forced a Thiel timeout. The home side was able to ride the momentum and closed the set on a 15-5 run to go ahead 1-0 in the match.
 
Thiel trailed 11-5 in set two but tallied 5 of the next 6 points to force a Chatham timeout at 12-10. The home side led 14-12 but the Tomcats rattled off 6 straight points with Gregory behind the service line to pulled ahead 18-14. Back-to-back kills from Jenness and Lindzey Amory gave Thiel a 21-16 edge but Chatham responded with a 3-0 run to get within 2 (21-19). Chatham pulled even at 22 but a sneaky kill from libero Danielle Aulet (Lawrence, Kansas/Mineral Ridge) on the first contact gave Thiel a 1-point lead. Following a Cougars kill to even things at 23, Thiel took the set off of back-to-back Chatham errors to even the match at 1.
 
Gregory tallied seven kills with a team-best 24 digs and team-high-tying two aces. Amory notched three kills with a pair of block assists while Aulet added 16 digs.
 
The Tomcats carried the set-two-win momentum into the third set and dominated the entire way, limiting the Cougars to -.206 hitting in the set. Thiel used strong service pressure to keep the home side out of system and force difficult swings from the Chatham pins. The visitors had four aces in the set, three stuff blocks and hit .320 offensively to pull ahead 2-1.
 
Chatham, looking to keep their season alive, came out on a roll in set four and led 8-2 early to force a Thiel timeout. They extended the lead to 14-4 and never looked back in route to forcing a fifth set against Thiel for the second time in as many matches.
 
Devin Rhoads (Franklin, Pa./Rocky Grove) notched 19 digs while Carlie Reynolds (Grove City, Pa./Grove City Area) added eight to go with a team-leading 33 assists and a pair of aces.