GREENVILLE, Pa. (March 23) -- The Thiel College Men's Volleyball team won their 10th consecutive match Sunday with a 3-1 win over non-conference foe Buffalo State on Maenpa Court at Beeghly Gymnasium.

The Tomcats improve to 17-6 (9-0) with set score wins of 27-25, 25-23, 20-25 and 25-22 as they avenged an early-season loss to the Bengals (10-13, 0-0 AMCC), who are the last team to best the Blue and Gold. Thiel has now won 10 consecutive home matches dating back to last season.

Buffalo State forged ahead 17-14 in set four as they looked to force a fifth set. Thiel used a 3-0 spurt with a Ben Lowell (Portland, Ore./Sunset) solo stuff, Kaleb Proudfoot (Butler, Pa./Butler) and Lowell combo block and an Ezra Oesterling (Shelocta, Pa./West Shamokin) kill to even things at 17. Five straight side outs made it 20-19 visitors, but the Blue and Gold ended the match with a 6-2 run as Will Zimmerman (Cranberry, Pa./Seneca Valley) had two kills in the stretch, including the match-clinching-kill, to give the Tomcats their 10th straight win.

Oesterling clobbered a match-pacing 20 kills and hit .389 for his 20-plus kill effort of the season. He added five digs and a pair of block assists. Lowell dished out a match-high-tying 46 assists and blocked a career-best and match-high-tying seven balls (2 BS, 5 BA) to go with four digs.

Zimmerman added eight kills, a match-best three aces and four digs. Proudfoot logged seven kills, hit .429 and had four blocks (2 BS, 2 BA). 

The Tomcats used a 4-0 run to pull ahead capped with back-to-back Oesterling kills to lead 11-8 in set two. Thiel got 3 straight points from Tyler Hussey (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) to lead 15-13. The Tomcats reached 20 first on a Bryce Lizanich (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour), Lowell combo stuff. Buffalo State saved two set points at 21-24 but a service error gave Thiel the set and a 2-0 lead.

Hussey tallied nine kills from the right side while Lizanich had a match-best-tying seven blocks, six kills and five digs. 

The Blue and Gold led 12-9 in set one before a 4-0 Buffalo State run made it 13-12. The Bengals forged ahead 17-14 before a Hussey-Lizanoich stuff block evened the set at 22. Buffalo State had set-point try's at 24-23 and 25-24 but a Proudfoot block and kill kept Thiel alive. Back-to-back Oesterling kills ended the set as Thiel went ahead 1-0.

Buffalo State cruised in set three as they used an 10-2 run to lead 21-12. Thiel gained some momentum with a 7-2 run to force a timeout at 20-24 but the Bengals got a side out to get on the board.

Thiel held the edge in digs 48-46 as Josh Pugh (Wexford, Pa./Pine Richland) dug a career-high and match-best-tying 16 balls. Thiel had 13 blocks (5 BS, 16 BA) while Buffalo State had nine (2 BS, 14 BA).

Men's Volleyball returns to action Wednesday for a 7 p.m. PAC showdwon at Grove City College. A win will secure the number-one seed in the PAC Championship Tournament for Thiel.