BUFFALO, N.Y. (Feb. 7) -- The No. 20 Thiel Men's Volleyball team took down No. 17 Buffalo State in a five-set classic and swept Carlow Saturday at Buffalo State's tri-match from Sports Arena.
The Tomcats improve to 9-4 and have now won six straight matches. With the win over Buffalo State, Thiel has produced two victories over ranked opponents in a season for the second time in program history.
Match 2: No. 20 Thiel 3, No. 17 Buffalo State 2 (25-20, 23-25, 20-25, 25-20, 15-13)
The Bengals (8-1, 1-0 AMCC) opened set five with a 4-0 run before the Tomcats responded with a 4-0 spurt of their own as
Will Zimmerman (Cranberry, Pa./Seneca Valley) had a pair of kills in the run. Back-to-back Thiel points capped with a
Noah Leffingwell (Seattle, Wash./Bishop Blanchet) solo stuff pushed Thiel ahead 7-6. Trailing 10-9, the Cats notched 5 of the next 7 with two more Zimmerman kills in the run to lead 14-12. The home side saved one match point before an
Ezra Oesterling (Shelocta, Pa./West Shamokin) kill sealed the ranked win for the Tomcats.
Zimmerman notched 11 kills on .290 to go with a match-high five aces. Oesterling mashed 14 kills on .257 and dug 11 balls for his third double-double of the season. He added four aces. Leffingwell, filling in for the injured
Bryce Lizanich (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour), had two kills and a career-high three solo blocks in the middle.
The Blue and Gold used a 6-0 run in set four with a pair of Zimmerman aces as well as a
Tyler Hussey (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) kill to jump ahead 11-5. The home side got within 1 at 13-12 before a 4-1 Tomcats spurt with a block from
Kaleb Proudfoot (Butler, Pa./Butler) and
George Schwalm IV (Fort Collins, Colo./Poudre) pushed Thiel back ahead 17-13. An Oesterling ace forced the deciding set.
Proudfoot notched nine kills on. 368 to go with four blocks (1 BS, 3 BA) and a career-high-tying six digs. Schwalm IV posted eight kills on .353 while Hussey added seven kills on .294.
Thiel only trailed at 1-0 in set one as a 5-1 run grew the lead to 18-13. A Zimmerman ace gave the Cats the opening frame.
The Tomcats finished with 10 aces in the win to the Bengals' four. Thiel hit .248 while Buffalo State was at .247. The home side held a slim 52-49 edge in digs as
Josh Hovan (Baden, Pa./Ambridge) had a team-high-tying 11.
Eli Olszowka (Erie, Pa./Mercyhurst Prep) dished out a team-best 23 assists and had seven digs.
Ben Lowell (Portland, Ore./Sunset) had 18 helpers and seven digs.
Match 1: No. 20 Thiel 3, Carlow 0 (25-22, 25-19. 25-14)
The Tomcats served 18 aces in the victory, which is tied for third most in a match in team history and is the most by the Blue and Gold since 2021. Eight different Tomcats had at least one ace as
Sam Draa (Saegertown, Pa./Saegertown) had a match-high four and Zimmerman and
Jack Herter (Allentown, Pa./Dieruff) each added three.
Draa added a career-high six kills and a pair of digs while Zimmerman had four kills and a dig. Herter dished out a match-high-tying 13 assists and dug one ball. Oesterling had a match-best seven kills on .800 and four digs.
Thiel used a 5-0 run capped with a Leffingwell kill to lead 14-12 in the opening set. A 4-1 run with aces from Zimmerman and
Hayden Daubenspeck (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf) pushed the Cats ahead 20-16 as
Rex Dugan (Covington, Wash./Tahoma) added a pair of kills in the home stretch to put Thiel up 1-0.
Leffingwell finished with four kills and two aces while Daubenspeck tied with Herter for the match lead with 13 helpers. He added two aces and a dig. Dugan smacked a career-best five kills on .300 and had an ace and dig each.
Daelan Brandon (Euclid, Ohio/Villa Angela-St Joseph) added a kill and a pair of aces.
Thiel used an 8-1 run that ballooned into a 12-4 spurt to end the frame and make it 2-0. The Cats cruised in the third frame, hitting .353 as a 6-0 run with all four of Draa's aces sealed the victory.
The Blue and Gold hit .257 and held Carlow to .204. Thiel had 20 digs to the Celtics' (0-10, 0-1 AMCC) 13.
Looking Ahead
Thiel will almost certainly move up in Tuesday's AVCA Week 4 Coaches' Poll following its 3-0 week. The Blue and Gold will open Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play Thursday at home against Bethany (6 p.m.) before taking on Trine (1 p.m.) and Endicott (3 p.m.) Saturday at the Nazareth tri-match.
