GREENVILLE, Pa. (March 7) -- The Thiel College Men's Volleyball team extended its winning streak to seven, the second longest in program history, with a 3-1 win over Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) foe Saint Vincent College Friday evening on Maenpa Court at Beeghly Gymnasium.

The Tomcats improve to 14-6 (7-0) and maintain first place in the conference with set score wins of 25-18, 23-25, 25-22 and 25-16 while the Bearcats drop to 6-8 (1-4). 

The Blue and Gold dug a season-best 76 balls in the win as Josh Hovan (Baden, Pa./Ambridge) netted a career- and match-leading 20 digs. David Gonzalez (El Paso, Texas/Eastwood) notched 13 digs while Bryce Lizanich (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) dug a career-best nine balls.

Thiel used a 5-1 run capped by Will Zimmerman (Cranberry, Pa./Seneca Valley) and Ezra Oesterling (Shelocta, Pa./West Shamokin) kills in the opening frame to break an 8-8 deadlock and pull ahead 13-9. Saint Vincent got within one at 13-12 but a 4-1 Thiel spurt grew the lead back to 17-13. Thiel logged 6 of the final 7 points of the set to go ahead 1-0.

In a battle of the top two statistically productive hitters in the conference, Oesterling posted a match-pacing 22 kills to narrowly edge out Saint Vincent's Shawn McSwiggen, who finished with 21. Oesterling hit .300 to go with eight digs and a team-high-tying two aces.

Zimmerman added 14 kills on .344 hitting to go with eight digs, three block assists and two aces.

The Bearcats used a 6-2 stretch to pull ahead 17-13 in set two. The Tomcats staved off three set-point chances at 20-24 but the Bearcats ultimately took the set to even the match at one.

The Tomcats got three straight points off JC Govannucci (North Huntington, Pa./Norwin) kills followed by an Oesterling kill to cap a 4-1 spurt that put Thiel up 16-11 in set three. The visitors used an 8-1 run to turn a 20-13 deficit into a 21-all deadlock. Thiel notched 4 of the last 5 points in the set, the last of which came on a Govannucci-Kaleb Proudfoot (Butler, Pa./Butler) block, to go ahead 2-1. 

Govannucci clubbed a season-best 10 kills on .391 and dug three balls in the win. Proudfoot added five kills on .385 and had a match-leading four block assists. 

A 6-0 run that saw two Oesterling aces put Thiel up 8-3 in set four. The Bearcats got as close as 3 (11-8) in the set as Thiel maintained at least a 4-point advantage the rest of the way in route to the win. 

Ben Lowell (Portland, Ore./Sunset) dished out a match- and season-best 48 assists to go with eight digs and three block assists.

The Tomcats notched seven total blocks (14 BA) to Saint Vincent's three (2 BS, 2 BA). Thiel hit .299 for the match and at least .350 in three frames while holding Saint Vincent to .149.

Men's Volleyball returns to action Wednesday, March 19, at 7 p.m. for a PAC showdown at Chatham.