GREENVILLE, Pa. (Feb. 22) -- The Thiel College Men's Volleyball team posted a 3-0 sweep of Chatham University Saturday afternoon on Maenpa Court at Beeghly Gymnasium in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play.

The Tomcats rise to 9-6 overall and 3-0 in league play with set score wins of 25-23, 25-16 and 25-20 while the Cougars drop to 3-7 overall and 0-2 in conference matches.

Thiel used a 5-0 run capped off by back-to-back Will Zimmerman (Cranberry, Pa./Seneca Valley) aces to pull ahead 13-8 in set one. Chatham pulled even at 17 before 2 straight Thiel points, the second of which came on a Jake Dies (Cambridge Springs, Pa./Cambridge Springs) ace, made it 19-17. The Cougars tallied 3 of the next 4 points to even things at 20 before the Tomcats logged 4 of the next 5 points to have three set point opportunities at 24-21. The visitors saved two set points but an attacking error ended the set and made it 1-0 Thiel.

Dies posted a season-best 12 kills while hitting a season-best .647 (min. 10 swings). He added seven digs, four block assists and one ace. Zimmerman added three kills, a match- and season-best three aces, dug five balls and had one block assist. 

The Blue and Gold used a 5-0 run in set two to pull ahead 12-5. Chatham got within 3 at 14-11 before a 4-0 Thiel run, capped off by an Ezra Oesterling (Shelocta, Pa./West Shamokin) ace, made it 18-11. The home side ended the frame with 3 straight points on a Kaleb Proudfoot (Butler, Pa./Butler)-Ben Lowell (Portland, Ore./Sunset) block followed by kills from Bryce Lizanich (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) and Oesterling to go up 2-0.

Oesterling totaled eight kills on .333 hitting to go with two digs and one ace. Proudfoot added five kills on .333 hitting to go with four block assists and one solo stuff. Lizanich logged three kills, block assists and digs each along with two aces. Lowell dished out a match-best 31 assists and had three kills, two block assists and four digs.

The Tomcats jumped to a 7-3 set-three lead. Chatham chipped away and got within 2 at 14-12 before the Tomcats tallied 3-of-4 points to go ahead 17-13. The visitors pulled even at 19 before consecutive Thiel points on a Dies kill and a Dies-Lizanich combo block made it 21-19. A kill from Dies followed by two Lizanich aces and a Dies-Proudfoot block ended the frame and match for Thiel.

Thiel hit .288 for the match and held Chatham to .122. The Blue and Gold tallied 14 block assists and one solo stuff while the Purple and White had eight block assists and two solo blocks. Thiel served seven aces to Chatham's two. 

Men's Volleyball returns to action Wednesday for a home non-conference tilt with Penn State Behrend at 7 p.m. The Tomcats bested the Lions in five on Jan. 25 this season.