BEAVER FALLS, Pa. (March 18) -- The Thiel College Men's Volleyball team earned a 3-1 win at Geneva College Wednesday evening in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) action from Metheny Fieldhouse.
The Tomcats, winners in 5 of their last 6 matches, rise to 17-8 (8-1) with set score wins of 25-12, 25-16, 24-26 and 25-23. The victory also marked the sixth-consecutive series win over the Golden Tornadoes (8-15, 2-6).
A 3-1 Thiel run capped with a
Kaleb Proudfoot (Butler, Pa./Butler) kill off of an
Eli Olszowka (Erie, Pa./Mercyhurst Prep) assist pulled Thiel ahead 22-21 in set four.
Tyler Hussey (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) added a kill to make it 23-22 that kickstarted a match-ending 3-1 run to give the Tomcats the victory.
Olszowka delivered a team-most 25 assists to go with a career-and-match-high 19 digs, the most by a Tomcat since
Josh Hovan (Baden, Pa./Ambridge) had 20 against Saint Vincent last season.
Hussey paced the Thiel offense with 13 kills on .429 from the right side to go with two blocks. Proudfoot notched 10 kills on .563 out of the middle with four digs and a pair of blocks.
Thiel jumped to an 8-1 set one lead as an
Ezra Oesterling (Shelocta, Pa./West Shamokin) kill along with a
Will Zimmerman (Cranberry, Pa./Seneca Valley) ace capped the run. The Blue and Gold led by as many as 12 in the frame as they hit .469 and limited Geneva to -.033.
Oesterling knocked 12 kills and added four digs to go with an ace and block each. Zimmerman logged seven kills and no errors on .389 to go with four digs and a match-high-tying two aces.
The Cats used a 5-0 run in set two to jump ahead 16-10. Kills from
Bryce Lizanich (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) and
George Schwalm IV (Fort Collins, Colo./Poudre), both of which came off of
Ben Lowell (Portland, Ore./Sunset) assists, pushed the Tomcats ahead 17-12 and 19-14, respectively, as Thiel ended the set with 5-of-6 to go ahead 2-0.
Schwalm IV logged seven kills and no errors on .528. Lizanich added six kills, a career-high-tying and match-best four solo blocks and a contest-most-tying two aces. Lowell dished out 18 helpers and added four digs.
Thiel hit .344 for the match and held Geneva to .134. The Tomcats held a 52-51 edge in digs as
Josh Hovan (Baden, Pa./Ambridge) and
Josh Pugh (Wexford, Pa./Pine Richland) each recorded six at libero. The Cats had eight blocks to the Golden Tornadoes' four.
The Cats served eight aces to run their season total to 159, just four shy of tying the team single-season record of 163 set in 2023.
Thiel is back in action next Wednesday for Senior Night against Chatham at 7 p.m. on Maenpa Court.
