BETHANY, W.Va. (April 3) -- The Thiel College Men's Volleyball team set a new team regular season record with its 21 first win tonight, a five-set triumph at Bethany College, to close the 2026 regular season from Hummel Fieldhouse in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) action.
The Tomcats cap the regular season 21-8 (11-1) as they enter the PAC Championship Tournament as the No. 1 seed and will host a semifinal match next Thursday at 7 p.m. The Bison close their campaign at 2-19 (1-11) with set losses of 18-25, 25-23, 15-25, 25-23 and 5-15.
Having already clinched the top seed Wednesday, head coach
Henry Gorton chose to mix-and-match lineups to get reserves some playing time in the regular-season finale.
Ezra Oesterling (Shelocta, Pa./West Shamokin) paced Thiel with 11 kills and four aces, all four of which came as the final 4 points in the match. He added six digs and two blocks.
Kaleb Proudfoot (Butler, Pa./Butler) logged seven kills on .545 with three blocks.
Rex Dugan (Covington, Wash./Tahoma) and
Will Zimmerman (Cranberry, Pa./Seneca Valley) each knocked six kills while
Sam Draa (Saegertown, Pa./Saegertown) and
Bryce Lizanich (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) each had five. Lizanich added a trio of blocks while Dugan had a career-most seven digs.
Noah Leffingwell (Seattle, Wash./Bishop Blanchet) had four kills and blocks each while
Hayden Daubenspeck (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf) led all players with five blocks along with a team-pacing 32 assists.
Thiel held a 48-45 edge in digs as
Brandon Gala (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) led Thiel with 10. The Cats logged 12 blocks (3 BS, 18 BA) and aces each.
The Tomcats are back in next Thursday at 7 p.m. for the PAC Championship Tournament Semifinal against either Grove City or Hiram. More information on the Tournament and matchup will be posted in the days ahead.
