LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 20) -- Thiel College Men's Volleyball standout Kaleb Proudfoot (Butler, Pa./Butler) earned American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America Honorable Mention honors Monday afternoon, becoming the first player in program history to receive the distinction.

"Kaleb has been a model student athlete all year, leading his teammates through his voice and his actions, and his impact on the court can't be understated," Henry Gorton, head coach, said. "Eager to learn, and relentless with effort, his statistics speak for themselves but more impressive than his numbers has been the way he carries himself on and off the court. Kaleb is a great player and a great person and I am lucky to have had the chance to work with him this year."

Proudfoot, who along with Ezra Oesterling (Shelocta, Pa./West Shamokin) became the first Tomcats ever named to the AVCA All-Region II team last week, capped his historic career in Greenville by hitting a program-record .452 this season, which ranked third in DIII and fourth nationally.

Proudfoot was named the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Player of the Year in addition to making the All-PAC First Team for the second-straight season. He also earned Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Second Team laurels as a sophomore. 

A career six-time conference Offensive Player of the Week, Proudfoot is the Thiel career hitting percentage record holder at .408 and was the active NCAA career leader in hitting for the entirety of the 2026 campaign. He is the only Tomcat ever to hit .400 or better in a career as he occupies 3 of the top 10 spots on Thiel's single-season hitting percentage leaderboard. He holds the second- and third-highest single-match hitting percentages in team history at .867 and .810, respectively.

Proudfoot finished his career with 750 kills, the sixth-most in program history, while his 2.18 kills per set rank eighth all-time.

Defensively, Proudfoot earned PAC Defensive Player of the Week honors once in 2026. He concluded his career third in team history with 271 blocks while his 86 solo stuffs are second-best in program history. 

Thiel won a program-record 23 matches in 2026 and claimed its second-straight PAC Championship en route to becoming the first team in school history to make back-to-back NCAA Tournaments.