GREENVILLE, Pa. – Chatham Men's Volleyball (12-8, 6-4 PAC) could not get out of a 2-0 hole on Wednesday night at Thiel (18-8, 8-1), as they took the third set but would fall 3-1 (25-15, 25-18, 17-25, 25-23).
 
Ezra Oesterling had 13 kills and 7 aces to lead the Tomcats. Kaleb Proudfoot added 12 kills while hitting .647. Bryce Lizanich contributed 4 blocks for Thiel. Ben Lowell had a team-high 21 assists, Josh Hovan recorded 9 digs, and Will Zimmerman tallied 2 aces, 3 blocks and 7 digs.
 
Tim McCabe racked up a match-high 17 kills, hitting .333 for the match with an ace and 10 digs for the Cougars. Ben Shelestak contributed 12 kills, 7 digs, 4 blocks and an ace. RJ Nagg dished out a match-high 36 assists and tacked on an ace, while John Gasiorowski recorded a match-high 13 digs for Chatham.
 
The Cougars claimed the first 2 points of the match, but a 6-0 run later in the first set put Thiel up 22-12, and the Tomcats would hold on to lead the match 1-0. Set two was similar, with Chatham winning the first 2 points on a Shelestak kill and Nagg ace before Thiel responded to take a 2-0 match advantage. The Cougars again won the first 2 points in the third set, this time going up 9-3 via back-to-back Paul kills. Chatham then went on a 5-0 run spearheaded by two more kills by Shelestak before his ace closed the set victory. The Cougars gave themselves a chance by leading the fourth set 21-18 and 23-21, but 4 straight Tomcat points to end the set gave them the match victory.
 
Thiel hit .298 across the match while Chatham attacked at a .221 clip. The Tomcats held a 9-3 edge in aces and a 52-42 adavantage in kills.
 
The Cougars return to the Athletic and Fitness Center on Saturday to take on Saint Vincent at noon.