GREENVILLE, Pa. (April 11) -- The Thiel College Men's Volleyball team claimed its second consecutive Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) championship with a 3-1 triumph over Chatham University in front of a sold-out crowd from Maenpa Court at Beeghly Gymnasium Saturday evening.
With the win, the Tomcats clinch their second-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, becoming the first program in school history to do so. Thiel enters the Big Dance with a program-record 23 victories as they took the championship bout with set scores of 25-19, 25-22, 20-25 and 25-17.
Ahead 2-1 in the match, Thiel used a 3-0 run to pull ahead 15-10. A 4-0 run kickstarted with an
Ezra Oesterling (Shelocta, Pa./West Shamokin) kill made it 19-12 Cats before a
Tyler Hussey (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) kill sealed the Cats' second-straight PAC Championship.
Oesterling was named the PAC Championship Tournament Most Outstanding Player as he led Thiel with 16 kills on .560 from the outside with three blocks and two aces. Hussey posted five kills with a pair of blocks.
Thiel used a 3-0 set-one run capped with a
Kaleb Proudfoot (Butler, Pa./Butler) -
George Schwalm IV (Fort Collins, Colo./Poudre) combo block to pull ahead 11-6. A Proudfoot kill made it 23-17 while a kill from Oesterling gave Thiel the opening frame.
Proudfoot swatted 13 kills on .545 with a contest-high-tying four blocks and two aces en route to being named to the All-Tournamnet Team. Schwalm IV recorded 10 kills on .316 with a match-high-tying four blocks (2 BS, 2 BA) and two digs.
Thiel used a late 4-0 run in set two to pull ahead 20-14 as
Bryce Lizanich (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) and Hussey had a combo block in the run. The Cougars (16-9) made a late push and got within 2 before kills from Proudfoot and Schwalm IV off assists from
Ben Lowell (Portland, Ore./Sunset) and
Eli Olszowka (Erie, Pa./Mercyhurst Prep), respectively, pushed the Cats ahead 2-0.
Lizanich logged six kills with three blocks while
Will Zimmerman (Cranberry, Pa./Seneca Valley), who was also named to the All-Tournament Team, posted seven kills, four blocks (2 BS, 2 BA) and three digs.
Olszowka paced Thiel in assists (25) and digs (7) with an ace while Lowell distributed 24 helpers with three digs.
As a squad, the Cats logged 13 blocks (6 BS, 14 BA) and held a 30-29 advantage in digs.
Josh Hovan (Baden, Pa./Ambridge) recorded six digs at libero.
Thiel will learn its NCAA Tournament opponent during Monday's Selection Show at 10 a.m. A link to the show will be posted on the Thiel Athletics webiste and socials once it is available.
