GREENVILLE, Pa. (March 4) -- The Thiel College Men's Volleyball team cruised past Hiram College 25-18, 25-14, 25-18 in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) showdown Wednesday evening on Maenpa Court at Beeghly Gymnasium.
Thiel climbs to 15-7 (5-0) while the Terriers sink to 6-6 (2-1).
A 4-0 Thiel run punctuated with a
Will Zimmerman (Cranberry, Pa./Seneca Valley) facial on an overpass pushed Thiel ahead 9-6. A
Bryce Lizanich (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) kill made it 19-15 as the Cats tallied 6 of the last 8 to jump ahead 1-0.
Lizanich cranked nine kills with no errors on 10 swings to hit .900 from the middle. He added a match-best three blocks (2 BS, 1 BA). Zimmerman tallied four kills on .571 to go with four digs.
A 4-0 Thiel run with
Ezra Oesterling (Shelocta, Pa./West Shamokin) serving in set two pushed Thiel ahead 14-8. Oesterling had two aces in the run. A
Kaleb Proudfoot (Butler, Pa./Butler) kill made it 20-12 while a 4-0 Thiel run with three kills from Lizanich and one from
Tyler Hussey (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) made it 2-0 Thiel.
Oesterling mashed a match-best 11 kills to go with a contest-most five aces and four digs. Proudfoot logged seven kills on .429 to go with two blocks and an ace. Hussey smacked six kills on .308 with a trio of digs.
A 6-1 Thiel run kickstarted with a
Sam Draa (Saegertown, Pa./Saegertown) kill and ace pushed the Cats ahead 21-15 in set three. A
George Schwalm IV (Fort Collins, Colo./Poudre) kill made it 22-16 as a Hussey kill sealed the match for the Tomcats.
Schwalm IV recorded three kills and dug six balls while Draa pitched in two kills and had an ace.
Thiel hit .407 in the victory and held Hiram to .148. The Tomcats held a 39-25 edge in digs as
Josh Hovan (Baden, Pa./Ambridge) had a match-best eight and
Josh Pugh (Wexford, Pa./Pine Richland) added three.
Eli Olszowka (Erie, Pa./Mercyhurst Prep) distributed a team-best 21 assists and had a trio of digs.
Ben Lowell (Portland, Ore./Sunset) dished out 14 helpers and dug three balls.
Thiel is back in action Friday for a 7 p.m. PAC clash with Saint Vincent. Both squads enter the match atop the PAC standings at 5-0 each.
