LATROBE, Pa. (April 1) -- The Thiel College Men's Volleyball team secured the top seed in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Tournament with a five-set win at Saint Vincent College Wednesday evening in a battle of the top two teams in the conference from the Robert S. Carey Center.
The Tomcats rise to 20-8 (10-1) with set score wins of 21-25, 25-19, 24-26, 27-25 and 15-10 as they avenge an early-season loss to the Bearcats (14-4, 10-2). Regardless of Friday's result at Bethany, Thiel owns the tiebreaker over Saint Vincent given the Cats' 2-0 mark against Chatham and the Bearcats' 1-1 clip against Chatham.
The victory pushes Thiel to 6-0 in five-set matches and marks the Blue and Gold's second straight 20-win season.
Knotted at 8 in set five, a
Kaleb Proudfoot (Butler, Pa./Butler) kill followed by an
Ezra Oesterling (Shelocta, Pa./West Shamokin) kill kickstarted a 6-0 Thiel run to make it 14-8. Saint Vincent saved 2 match points before a Proudfoot kill sealed the Tomcats victory.
Oesterling tied the Thiel single-match kills record with 27 on .367 to go with eight digs, three aces and three blocks. Oesterling accounted for 32 points in the victory. Proudfoot logged 12 kills on .393 with five digs and a block.
Thiel led by 6 in set four before the Bearcats made a late push with a 6-0 run to have 2 match points at 24-22. Back-to-back Oesterling kills tied things at 24 before a 3-0 Cats run capped with a
Will Zimmerman (Cranberry, Pa./Seneca Valley) kill forced the deciding set.
Zimmerman recorded 10 kills, eight digs and a pair of aces.
A 4-1 Thiel run in set two with a Zimmerman kill off an
Eli Olszowka (Erie, Pa./Mercyhurst Prep) assist made it 13-8 Thiel. A kill from
George Schwalm IV (Fort Collins, Colo./Poudre) from a
Ben Lowell (Portland, Ore./Sunset) assist made it 19-13 as the Blue and Gold cruised to even the match.
Olszowka dished out a team-most 35 helpers while Lowell notched a double-double with 23 assists and 12 digs.
Bryce Lizanich (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) added seven kills on .400 with three blocks and digs each.
Tyler Hussey (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) added eight kills, four digs and two blocks. Schwalm IV logged six kills, four digs and a block.
Thiel held a 61-60 edge in digs as
Josh Hovan (Baden, Pa./Ambridge) logged 10 and
Josh Pugh (Wexford, Pa./Pine Richland) added six at libero. The Cats hit .268 and held the Bearcats to .163.
Thiel caps the regular season at Bethany Friday evening for a 6 p.m. clash.
