LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 13) -- Thiel College Men's Volleyball stars Ezra Oesterling (Shelocta, Pa./West Shamokin) and Kaleb Proudfoot (Butler, Pa./Butler) became the first players in program history named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Region II Team, as announced by the AVCA Monday afternoon.

Oesterling, the reigning Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, became the second person in school history to produce back-to-back 300-plus kill seasons. As a sophomore, his 377 kills this season are good for fourth-most in team history while his 802 career kills are third-most in team history. 

A five-time PAC Offenisve Player of the Week this season, Oesterling tied the Thiel single-match record with 27 kills in the Cats' five-set win at Saint Vincent on April 1. 

Proudfoot finished the season second in DIII and third in the nation in hitting at .459 as he will smash the programs single-season hitting percentage record of .413 which he set last season. Proudfoot's career .410 hitting percentage is tops of all active NCAA players. In a sweep of Mount Union earlier in the season, the senior prouduced the second-highest single-match hitting percentage in team history, hitting .867 with 13 kills and no errors on 15 swings

An All-Conference First Team pick last season, Proudfoot was also named the PAC Offensive Player of the Week on Feb. 3 and Feb. 17 as well as the PAC Defensive Player of the Week on March 3.

Thiel claimed its second-straight PAC championship last Saturday with a 3-1 win over Chatham. The Tomcats will take on Dominican (Ill.) in the NCAA Tournament Play-In Round Thursday at 7:30 EST from Tarble Arena on the campus of Carthage College.