LATROBE, Pa. (Apr. 2)- The Saint Vincent men's volleyball team dropped a home Presidents Athletic Conference matchup to Thiel by a score of 3-1 on Wednesday night.
The Bearcats (9-12, 4-7 PAC) started out strong with a 25-23 win in set one. However, the Tomcats (19-6, 11-0 PAC) went on to win the next three sets in a row by scores of 25-17, 27-25, and 25-19 to hand the Bearcats the loss.
Shawn McSwiggen led the way for Saint Vincent with a double-double, recording 16 kills and 10 digs, while he also totaled two blocks.
Tyler Nelson finished with a double-double as well, totaling 12 kills and 10 digs.
Zebadiah Wyant recorded a match-high 19 kills.
Jackson Genicola totaled 40 assists and
Rocco Marino recorded two blocks in the loss for Saint Vincent.
Saint Vincent took full control in the opening set. The Bearcats quickly jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the first set. Thiel battled back to tie the set at 16-16, before the teams began trading points back-and-forth. The set remained tied at 22-22 before the Bearcats score three of the final four points, one coming on a Thiel error and the others coming on a service ace from Wyant and kill from McSwiggen to win the set for SVC (25-23), taking a 1-0 lead in the match.
Thiel took the control in the second set. The Tomcats opened up to a 9-4 lead. Saint Vincent answered with an 11-5 run to take a 15-14 lead in the set. Thiel answered scoring 11 of the next 13 points to hand Saint Vincent the set loss (25-17) and the match was tied at 1-1.
The third set went back-and-forth in its entirety. Neither team held more than a two point lead into the late portions of the set. Saint Vincent held a slight 25-24 lead with set point, but Thiel answered with three consecutive points to win the set (27-25) and the Bearcats found themselves trailing 2-1 in the match.
The Tomcats never lost the lead in the fourth set. Saint Vincent had cut the Thiel lead to 21-18, but that's the closest they'd get the rest of the way as the Tomcats handed the Bearcats their third consecutive set loss (25-19), and the match loss, 3-1.
Saint Vincent returns to action on Saturday, April 5, hosting Chatham in their PAC regular season finale. The match is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
