BEAVER FALLS, Pa. (March 5) -- The Thiel College Men's Volleyball team extended its winning streak to six as they survived a reverse-sweep attempt from Geneva College Wednesday evening at Metheny Fieldhouse in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) action.

The Tomcats improve to 13-6 (6-0) with set score wins of 25-17, 25-21, 19-25, 23-25 and 15-7 to sweep the season series with the Golden Tornadoes (8-11, 3-4).

Thiel forged ahead 6-4 in set five with back-to-back Ezra Oesterling (Shelocta, Pa./West Shamokin) kills. Leading 8-6, the Tomcats used a 5-0 run with 4 of the points coming on Oesterling kills to pull ahead 13-6. A Geneva side out followed by a pair of errors from the home side gave Thiel the set and the match.

Oesterling posted a match-pacing 18 kills on .333 hitting and dug 11 balls for his fifth double-double of the season. He added one ace and block assist each in the victory. Oesterling has tallied at least 10 kills in 16-of-18 matches this season.

The Tomcats used a 5-1 run in set one capped by a Bryce Lizanich (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour)-Ben Lowell (Portland, Ore./Sunset) block to lead 13-8. Thiel used a second 5-1 spurt in the frame spearheaded by a Lizanich kill and block to push ahead 20-12. The visitors notched 3 of the last 4 points in the set to go ahead 1-0.

Lizanich notched 8 kills and no errors to hit .615 from the middle. He added five total blocks (1 BS, 4 BA) and four digs. Lowell dished out a match-leading 42 assists, dug eight balls, notched four block assists and had three kills.

A 4-0 Thiel run in set two that featured kills from Kaleb Proudfoot (Butler, Pa./Butler), JC Govannucci (North Huntington, Pa./Norwin) and Oesterling along with a Proudfoot-Lowell block made it 11-5. Back-to-back Will Zimmerman (Cranberry, Pa./Seneca Valley) kills pushed Thiel's lead to 18-12. Kills by Proudfoot made it 20-16 and 23-17, respectively, as Oesterling notched the final 2 points of the frame to make it 2-0 visitors.

Proudfoot, the reigning PAC Offensive Player of the Week and FrogJump Volleyball Team of the Week member, notched a season-high-tying 14 kills on .440 hitting to go with a career- and match-best nine blocks (3 BS, 6 BA).

Zimmerman dug 10 balls and added five digs while Govannucci logged five kills, four block assists and four digs. 

Set three was even til the halfway point as Geneva used a 5-1 run to lead 19-16. Thiel got within 1 at 19-18, but Geneva ended the set with a 6-1 spurt to get on the board. 

The Tomcats used a 3-1 stretch that featured a Govannucci-Lizanich and Lizanich-Oesterling block in set four to draw even at 19. The visitors fended off two set-point chances at 24-21, but the home side ultimately sided out to force a deciding set. 

The Blue and Gold held the edge in digs 66-59 as David Gonzalez (El Paso, Texas/Eastwood) dug a team-leading 12 balls. Thiel totaled four solo stuffs and a season-best 21 block assists for 14.5 total blocks. The Tomcats hit .245 and held Geneva to .091. 

Men's Volleyball returns to action Friday for a home PAC matchup with Saint Vincent College at 7 p.m.