ROCHESTER, N.Y. (Feb. 14) -- The No. 17 Thiel College Men's Volleyball team dropped a pair of matches to Trine and RV Endicott Saturday at the Nazareth Invitational from Robert A. Kidera Gym.
The Tomcats drop to 10-6 (1-0) as their seven-match win streak comes to an end.
Match 1: No. 17 Thiel 0, Trine 3 (25-19, 25-20, 25-20)
Serve and pass was the name of the game as the Thunder (7-7, 0-0 MCVL) totaled 13 aces to seven missed serves while the Tomcats notched two aces to 17 service errors.
Thiel outhit Trine .352 to .318 as
Ezra Oesterling (Shelocta, Pa./West Shamokin) led all attackers with 12 kills on .304 from the left pin, He added a trio of digs in the defeat.
Bryce Lizanich (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour), in his return from injury, notched eights kills on .500 and had a match-high-tying four blocks.
Will Zimmerman (Cranberry, Pa./Seneca Valley) and
Kaleb Proudfoot (Butler, Pa./Butler) each logged seven kills with the former hitting .357 and the latter sitting at .545 out of the middle.
Tyler Hussey (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) added three kills.
Eli Olszowka (Erie, Pa./Mercyhurst Prep) dished out 22 assists while
Ben Lowell (Portland, Ore./Sunset) had 13 helpers.
Match 2: No. 17 Thiel 1, RV Endicott 3 (25-23, 20-25, 27-25, 25-16)
Thiel climbed out of a 16-11 and 22-18 deficits in set one as a
George Schwalm IV (Fort Collins, Colo./Poudre) block along with back-to-back Lizanich blocks knotted things at 22. The Cats ended the frame with 3 unanswered, the last coming on a Hussey-Lizanich block to make it 1-0 Thiel.
The Tomcats totaled 10 blocks for the match as Lizanich had four to go with 11 kills on .476. Hussey notched six kills and a pair of blocks while Schwalm IV logged six kills and four blocks.
After the Gulls (7-3, 0-0 NEVC) took set two, a Proudfoot kill evened set three at 21. After back-to-back Endicott points, Thiel logged 4-of-5 with Oesterling recording a kill and an ace in the spurt to make it 25-24 Cats. The Gulls went on to take the next 3 to pull ahead 2-1.
Proudfoot led Thiel with 15 kills on .542 to go with a team-high five blocks. Oesterling added seven kills and a block.Â
Thiel was within striking distance in set four as a 4-0 run pulled the Ctas within 2 at 13-11. Endicott rallied and took 9 of the next 12 as they went on to take the set and match.
The Tomcats recorded 46 digs as Olszowka had a team-best 11 along with 24 helpers for a double-double. Lowell added eight digs and 17 assists. At libero,
Josh Hovan (Baden, Pa./Ambridge) had seven digs and
Josh Pugh (Wexford, Pa./Pine Richland) logged six. Zimmerman notched six digs and had four kills.
Looking Ahead
No. 17 Thiel will head to Grove City Wednesday for a 7 p.m. 2025 PAC Championship rematch with the Wolverines. The Cats took all three meetings with Grove City last season.Â
