HIRAM, Ohio (March 1) -- The Thiel College Men's Volleyball team stormed past Hiram College 3-1 in a battle of unbeaten Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) squads Saturday afternoon from Price Gymnasium. 

The Tomcats push their winning streak to five and improve to 12-6 (5-0) with set score wins of 21-25, 30-28, 25-18 and 25-18 while the Terriers drop to 9-6 (4-1). The win marked the 100th in Head Coach/Director of Volleyball Dylan Lasher '15's career as a men's and women's coach.

Trailing 16-13 in set two, Thiel tallied 5 of the next 6 points to pull ahead 18-17 as Kaleb Proudfoot (Butler, Pa./Butler) notched a pair of kills in the stretch. Matching 3-0 runs from both sides had Thiel ahead 21-20. The Tomcats had set-point chances at 24-23 and 25-24 but the Terriers fended both off. The Blue and Gold stayed alive and held off Hiram's set-point opportunities at 25-26 and 26-27. Tied at 28, an Ezra Oesterling (Shelocta, Pa./West Shamokin) kill followed by an attacking error gave Thiel the set at 30-28.

Proudfoot posted 12 kills on .455 from the middle to go with a trio of solo blocks and two block assists. He eclipsed 400 career kills in the victory. Oesterling clubbed a match-best 19 kills on .275 and dug seven balls. 

Hiram led 12-9 in set three before a 5-1 Thiel spurt capped by a Proudfoot solo block made it 14-13 visitors. A Terriers side out followed by another 5-1 run capped by a Bryce Lizanich (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) kill made it 19-15 Thiel. Back-to-back JC Govannucci (North Huntington, Pa./Norwin) kills made it 22-17 and a Lizanich ace ended the frame, putting Thiel up 2-1. The Tomcats hit .545 in the set.

Lizanich finished with four kills, two aces, three digs and three blocks (1 BS, 2 BA). Govannucci provided a spark from the bench after replacing an injured Jake Dies (Cambridge Springs, Pa./Cambridge Springs) at the end of set two and finished with six kills on .455 hitting and three digs. 

The Tomcats forged to a 17-12 set-four lead with all the momentum on their side, but the Terriers clawed back into the set with a 4-0 run to make it 17-16. A trio of consecutive points on kills from Govannucci, Proudfoot and Oesterling made it 20-16 visitors. A 4-0 Thiel run that featured a pair of aces from Will Zimmerman (Cranberry, Pa./Seneca Valley) gave the Tomcats seven set-point chances at 24-17. An Oesterling kill clinched the set and match for Thiel. The Tomcats hit .368 in the final set and held the Terriers to .086.

Zimmerman served a match-best four aces, dug a team-high-tying nine balls and notched six kills.

A Dies kill and a Ben Lowell (Portland, Ore./Sunset) ace got Thiel off to a 2-0 start to begin the match. Another ace from Lowell knotted the set at 19 before the home side closed the set with a 6-2 spurt to go up 1-0.

Dies finished with seven kills and six digs. Lowell whipped out a match-best 48 assists, dug a team-best-tying nine balls, blocked four balls (1 BS, 3 BA) and served two aces.

The Tomcats held the edge in digs (52-42) as David Gonzalez (El Paso, Texas/Eastwood) added seven from the libero spot. Thiel hit .270 for the match and held Hiram to .206. The Blue and Gold notched 10 aces to Hiram's two.

Men's Volleyball returns to action next Wednesday for a 7 p.m. PAC showdown at Geneva.