LATROBE, Pa. (April 2) -- The Thiel College Men's Volleyball team's program-record winning streak grew to 12 games with Wednesday night's 3-1 win over Saint Vincent College at the Robert S. Carey Center in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) action.

The Tomcats rise to 19-6 (11-0) with set score wins of 23-25, 25-17, 27-25 and 25-19 and are now one win shy of tying the 2013 Tomcats' program record for wins in a season. The Bearcats fall to 9-12 (4-7).  

Thiel cruised ahead 16-9 in set four as Ezra Oesterling (Shelocta, Pa./West Shamokin) collected an ace. Saint Vincent made a push and got within 3 at 21-18, but the Blue and Gold responded with a 3-0 spurt kick started by a Bryce Lizanich (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) and Jake Dies (Cambridge Springs, Pa./Cambridge Springs) stuff block to have 6 match-point tries. Zimmerman got the match-clinching kill to seal Thiel's 12th straight victory.

Oesterling had a team-best-pacing 13 kills, served a match-best five aces and dug eight balls. With his five aces, Oesterling climbed his season total to 36, a PAC best, and set a new program record for aces in a season, breaking Jake Dies' (Cambridge Springs, Pa./Cambridge Springs) record of 35. 

Thiel forged ahead 8-4 in set two on a Will Zimmerman (Cranberry, Pa./Seneca Valley) ace. A 6-1 Saint Vincent run made it 15-14 Bearcats. Thiel answered with a 4-0 spurt to go ahead 18-15. After a Bearcats side out, Thiel got 3 of the next 4 points on attacking errors, one of which was a Kaleb Proudfoot (Butler, Pa./Butler) solo stuff. A Ben Lowell (Portland, Ore./Sunset) solo block coupled with a long attack gave Thiel the frame. In total, the Tomcats closed the set on an 11-2 run.

Zimmerman had a team-high-tying 13 kills and seven digs. Proudfoot posted 12 kills on .550 hitting and blocked three balls (2 BS, 1 BA). Lowell dished out a team-best 24 assists, dug five balls and had two blocks (1 BS, 1 BA). 
 
Trailing 12-10 in set three, Thiel used a 5-0 run with 1 point coming on a Lizanich-Dies combo block and 1 more coming on a Dies solo roof to lead 14-12. The home side led 22-21, but a Lizanich solo block knotted things at 22. Saint Vincent got the next 2 points to have 2 set-point chances at 24-22, but back-to-back Zimmerman kills tied things at 24. The Bearcats had one more chance at the set at 25-24, but a 3-0 Thiel run culminating in a Zimmerman kill put Thiel ahead 2-1. 

The third set had 14 ties and four lead changes. Lizanich added five kills, four blocks (1 BS, 3 BA) and four digs while Dies had four kills and three blocks (1 BS, 2 BA).

Saint Vincent held early leads of 8-2 and 12-6 in set one but Thiel chipped away at the lead and used  a 5-0 run that had a pair of Oesterling aces to make it 13-12. From there, neither side led by more than 2 the rest of the frame. Back-to-back points on a Lizanich kill and another Oesterling ace tied things at 22, but the home side tallied 3 of the final 4 points to go up 1-0.

Thiel held the blocking edge with 11 (7 BS, 8 BA) to Saint Vincent's six (5 BS, 2 BA). The Blue and Gold had seven aces to the Bearcats' two. 

Josh Pugh (Wexford, Pa./Pine Richland) led Thiel with nine digs while Eli Olszowka (Erie, Pa./Mercyhurst Prep) added seven along with 21 assists.

Men's Volleyball concludes the regular season Friday at home for a 7 p.m. battle with PAC foe Hiram College. Thiel will host a PAC Championship Tournament semifinal match next Thursday, April 10, versus a to be determined opponent.