GREENVILLE, Pa. (Feb. 18) -- The Thiel College Men's Volleyball team logged a sweep of Geneva College in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) action Tuesday evening on Maenpa Court at Beeghly Gymnasium.

The Tomcats improve to 8-6 (2-0) with set score wins of 25-21, 25-19 and 25-20 while the Golden Tornadoes drop to 6-8 (1-1). 

Thiel used a 3-0 run to break a 10-10 deadlock and lead 13-10 in set one. After a Geneva side out and attacking error, Ezra Oesterling (Shelocta, Pa./West Shamokin) smacked back-to-back aces to push Thiel's lead to 16-11. Three GT errors combined with a Bryce Lizanich (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) ace pushed Thiel's lead to 20-13. The visitors got within 2 at 23-21, but ended the set with two errors which gave Thiel the 1-0 lead. The Tomcats were held under .100 hitting (-.037) in set one but still emerged victorious.

Oesterling clubbed a match-best 14 kills on .273 hitting and served a career- and match-best four aces while adding five digs. Oesterling has posted 12 double-digit kill matches this year. Of those 12 matches, he has reach at least 14 kills nine times. Lizanich finished with a trio of block assists, one ace and one kill.

The Blue and Gold used separate 4-0 runs to jump ahead 12-5 in set two. Consecutive kills from Jake Dies (Cambridge Springs, Pa./Cambridge Springs) rose Thiel's lead to 19-12. An ace from Eli Olszowka (Erie, Pa./Mercyhurst Prep) made it 23-14, but Geneva tallied the next 5 points to stay in the set. An attacking error followed by a Lizanich-Dies combo block gave the home side a 2-0 advantage.

Dies whacked a season-best 10 kills on .389 hitting, dug seven balls and had three block assists. Olszowka distributed a team-high 21 assists and had six digs. 

A Will Zimmerman (Cranberry, Pa./Seneca Valley) kill in set three capped a 3-0 spurt that pushed Thiel ahead 14-11. Consecutive Kaleb Proudfoot (Butler, Pa./Butler) kills off of Ben Lowell (Portland, Ore./Sunset) assists along with a Lizanich attack gave Thiel a 17-13 edge. Geneva got within 2 at 22-20, but a 3-0 Blue-and-Gold run culminating in a Zimmerman kill ended the set and match.

Zimmerman tallied six kills and a team-pacing 10 digs. Proudfoot added five kills and hit .556 from the middle while Lowell dished out eight assists in set-three action.

As a team, Thiel served seven aces and had just eight service errors. Geneva, the conferences leading ace-serving team, had just two compared to 14 misses.

Men's Volleyball continues its four-game home stand with a PAC showdown against Chatham Saturday at 1 p.m.