PITTSBURGH (Nov. 9) -- The Thiel College women's volleyball team dropped a road five-set match to Chatham University Saturday evening at the Athletic and Fitness Center in Pittsburgh but clinched a spot in next week's Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Tournament with Westminster's victory over Bethany.
 
The Tomcats fall to 17-8 overall and 5-5 in PAC play while the Cougars rise to 11-12 on the year and 7-3 in conference play.

The home side won by set scores of 25-21, 18-25, 12-25, 25-17 and 15-11.
 
Thiel went ahead 3-1 in the deciding set as Daisy Jenness (Pendleton, Ore./Pendleton) had a pair of kills and combined with Kelly Peplowski (Hubbard, Ohio/Ursuline) for a block. Chatham, who has clinched the number-three seed in the conference tournament, pulled the set even at 4 before a Jenness kill spearheaded a 4-0 spurt that gave Thiel an 8-4 edge. The Cougars found their groove and responded with a 7-1 run to go ahead 11-9. An Erica Gregory (Clinton Township, Mich./Fraser) kill stopped the run and made it 11-10, but the home side tallied 4 of the next 5 points to take the set and the match.
 
Jenness posted a match-best 18 kills on 50 swings to hit .260 for her 20th 10-plus kill effort of the season. She will finish the regular season as the conference leader in total kills (402) and kills per set (4.14). Jenness became just the fourth Tomcat in history to eclipse 400 kills in a season. She is also now the fourth Tomcat to average at least 4.0 kills per set in a season.
 
The Tomcats jumped to an early 5-1 lead to open the match, but the Cougars answered back with 5 straight points to pull ahead 6-5. From that point on, neither side was able to string together more than 3 consecutive points in the set as the frame went back and forth until it was knotted at 21. The Cougars then tallied 4 straight points to close the set and go ahead 1-0. The opening set featured 15 ties and three lead changes.
 
Set two picked up where the opening set left off and was tied at 5 early until the Tomcats went on an extended 12-6 run to pull ahead 17-11. Gregory collected a trio of kills in that stretch while the Tomcats were aided by six Cougars errors during the run. Chatham got within 3 (17-14) but Thiel closed the frame with a kill from Arin DeLattre (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) to cap off an 8-4 spurt and even the match at one set apiece.
 
DeLattre posted a solid all-around performance with 13 kills on .258 hitting to go with eight digs, five block assists and two service aces.
 
Thiel cruised in set three, thanks in part to a 12-1 run that turned an 8-5 deficit into a 17-9 advantage. Gregory got the run going and tallied four kills in the stretch. The Tomcats outscored the Cougars 8-3 the rest of the set to cap off a 20-4 run and give the visitors a 2-1 edge.
 
Gregory finished the match with 14 kills and 13 digs for her 10th double-double of the season. She added a trio of block assists and one service ace.
 
Chatham pulled ahead 5-1 in set four and held the lead the entire set as the closest Thiel got was 2 (8-6). The Blue and Gold cut the deficit to 18-15 on back-to-back kills from Jenness and Gregory, but the home side finished the frame with a 7-2 run to force the deciding set.
 
Defensively, Danielle Aulet (Lawrence, Kansas/Mineral Ridge) paced Thiel's backrow with a match-best 32 digs. Alex Ball (Clymer, Pa./Indiana Area) (15 digs) and Carlie Reynolds (Grove City, Pa./Grove City Area) (12) each had double-digit dig efforts. Reynolds added a match-high 37 assists.

Thiel will return to action in the conference tournament next week when they travel to Pittsburgh again for a rematch with Chatham. The date and time of the game are to be determined.