PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Chatham Men's Volleyball (8-5, 2-2 PAC) claimed the first set on Saturday afternoon against Thiel (14-7, 4-0) but was ultimately defeated by the Tomcats 3-1 (20-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-21).
Ezra Oesterling led Thiel with 10 kills, 3 aces and 9 digs. Kaleb Proudfoot recorded 10 kills while hitting .474 with 5 blocks. Bryce Lizanich hit .600 with 10 kills and 5 blocks, and Eli Olszowka had a team-high 18 assists and 9 digs for the Tomcats.
The Cougars' junior
Tim McCabe was the match leader in kills with 17 on .400 hitting. Junior
Ben Shelestak contributed 11 kills for Chatham. First year
Derek Paul tallied 9 kills with a team-high 12 digs. Junior
Jordan Haas finished with 6 digs, hitting at a .462 clip with a team-high 3 blocks. Sophomore
RJ Nagg dished out a game-high 27 assists, and sophomore
John Gasiorowski racked up 11 digs for the Cougars.
A 6-0 run in the first set with kills by
Derek Kintzer, Paul and McCabe gave Chatham a 6-2 lead. Two Shelestak kills later in the set would put the Cougars up 20-15. Thiel pulled back to within 22-20, but Chatham would win the final 3 points of the set, punctuated by a Paul kill. The Cougars led 6-5 in set two, but the Tomcats battled back, and an 8-1 run would put them ahead 23-13. Chatham would get back to within 24-18 before a service error evened the match at 1. The Cougars and Thiel were tied at 13 in the third set, and a Paul kill made the score 15-14 Tomcats, but a 7-1 Thiel run all but put the set away. The Tomcats would take the match lead by winning 4 of the set's final 5 points. Then in set four, Thiel pulled away early, going ahead 11-4. Four kills by
Tim McCabe would get Chatham back to within 22-18, but the Tomcats were able to hold on and win the match.
Thiel hit .241 in the match, while the Cougars had a .169 hitting percentage. Chatham held a 52-44 edge in kills and the Tomcats had 12-5 advantage in blocks.
The Cougars are back in action on Saturday, March 7, when they'll take on Grove City at noon and Nazareth at 2 p.m. in Grove City.
