TRAFFORD, Pa. (April 15) -- Thiel College Men's Volleyball freshman outside hitter
Ezra Oesterling (Shelocta, Pa./West Shamokin) was named the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, the league announced during its All-Conference Show Tuesday evening. Additionally, Head Coach
Dylan Lasher '15 was named the Coach of the Year.
Oesterling,
Ben Lowell (Portland, Ore./Sunset) and
Kaleb Proudfoot (Butler, Pa./Butler) all garnered All-PAC First Team laurels while
Jake Dies (Cambridge Springs, Pa./Cambridge Springs),
David Gonzalez (El Paso, Texas/Eastwood) and
Bryce Lizanich (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) were tabbed as Honorable Mention All-PAC picks.
Oesterling is the first player in team history to be named a conference player of the year, and he joins Dies as the lone players in program history to pick up newcomer of the year honors.
In Saturday's PAC Championship match, Oesterling became the second Tomcat ever to total 400-plus kills in a season, joining Dante McCoy '13. Of all NCAA freshmen, Oesterling is the leader in kills with 407. Among DIII players, he is fifth in kills. In the PAC ranks, he is second in kills per set (3.91). From the service line, Oesterling set the program record for aces in a season and currently sits at a conference-best 44. His mark in aces is fifth most among DIII freshmen.
Oesterling was named to the FrogJump National All-Freshman team and also was tabbed as the PAC Newcomer of the Week six times and the PAC Offensive Player of the Week twice.
In his fifth season as head coach, Lasher put together his strongest year at the helm of the program, leading the team to a program-record 22-win campaign and its first NCAA Tournament appearance. The Tomcats ride a program-record 15-match winning streak into the big dance and finished the year 12-0 in league play.
Lowell became the fifth Tomcat to eclipse 1,000 career assists in the Blue-and-Gold's triumph at Grove City on March 26. Lowell paced the team with 722 assists and was second in the PAC in assists per set (9.38).
Proudfoot leads the PAC and is 13th in DIII in hitting percentage (.413). He hit at least .400 15 times this season, at least .500 eight times and at least .600 twice. He picked up PAC Offensive Player of the Week honors three times and was named to the FrogJump Team of the Week once. He finished the year third in the PAC in blocks with 89 (31 BS, 58 BA).
Proudfoot was an All-AMCC Second Team pick last season.
Dies was named the PAC Offensive Player of the Week once. He hit at least .300 six times and totaled double-digit kills three times. Dies was a two-time All-AMCC Second Team pick in 2022 and 2023. Dies also was named the AMCC Newcomer of the Year in 2022.
Gonzalez transitioned to the libero spot this season and served as the floor general on serve receive. He tallied 164 digs on the year and totaled five 10-plus dig performances. Gonzalez was aced just 20 times this season on 670 serve-receive attempts.
Lizanich was fourth in the conference in blocks with 79 (24 BS, 55 BA). He tallied at least three blocks in each of the last 11 matches of the season. Lizanich tallied four double-digit kill matches on the year and hit a career-best .833 versus Bethany on March 21.
The Tomcats will take on Saint Joseph's-Long Island Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the NCAA Tournament Play-In round. Southern Virginia is the regional host and matches will be played at Washington and Lee.
