ERIE, Pa. (Feb. 5) -- The No. 20 Thiel College Men's Volleyball team fended off a challenge from non-conference Penn State Behrend in a five-set thriller Thursday evening at the Junker Center in Erie.

The Tomcats improve to 7-4 with set score wins of 25-18, 25-19, 19-25, 21-25 and 15-11 and have now won four straight matches. The victory is also Thiel's second ever as a ranked squad. The Lions dip to 5-4 (1-0 AMCC). 
 
Thiel jumped out the gates strong in set five with the first 3 points, with two coming on Kaleb Proudfoot (Butler, Pa./Butler) kills. Behrend drew even at 9 with 3 unanswered before the Blue and Gold responded with 3 of their own as Ezra Oesterling (Shelocta, Pa./West Shamokin) had an ace in the run. A George Schwalm IV (Fort Collins, Colo./Poudre) line shot kill gave Thiel match point as Noah Leffingwell (Seattle, Wash./Bishop Blanchet) delivered the match-clinching point with a solo stuff.
 
Schwalm IV led Thiel with a career-most 14 kills on .458 from the right side. Proudfoot tallied 12 kills on .526 in the middle with three digs and a block. Oesterling recorded a 12-kill, 13-dig double-double. His 13 digs led the Tomcats.
 
Thiel dominated in set one, hitting .355 to Behrend's .107. A 6-0 Thiel run with a pair of Will Zimmerman (Cranberry, Pa./Seneca Valley) kills pushed the Cats ahead 18-10 as they cruised to the set-one win.
 
Zimmerman cranked 13 kills from the left pin on.333 with nine digs and three blocks (two solo).
 
Like set 1, the Blue and Gold dominated on offense in set two, hitting .571 to Behrend's .259. Kills from Tyler Hussey (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) as well as  a triple-stuff from Oesterling, Hussey and Bryce Lizanich (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) gave the Cats a 2-0 lead.
 
Hussey notched seven kills, two blocks and two digs. Lizanich had a pair of kills and three blocks before going down an injury in set three. Leffingwell replaced Lizanich and finished with a kill, dig and ace each as well as two blocks.
 
Behrend gained momentum in set three and carried it to the win in the frame. The home side kept that momentum and forced the fifth set.
 
The Tomcats hit .290 and Behrend sat at .263. The Tomcats had a 53-52 edge in digs as Josh Pugh (Wexford, Pa./Pine Richland) had eight at libero.
 
Eli Olszowka (Erie, Pa./Mercyhurst Prep) distributed a team-most 31 assists with seven digs. Ben Lowell (Portland, Ore./Sunset) had 26 helpers with four digs.
 
The No. 20 Tomcats are back in action Saturday against Carlow (1 p.m.) and No. 17 Buffalo State (3 p.m.) at the Buffalo State tri. Read Full Article