LATROBE, Pa. (Apr. 1) — The Saint Vincent College men's volleyball team pushed visiting Thiel College to the limit Wednesday night, but the Tomcats rallied late for a 3-2 Presidents' Athletic Conference victory at the Carey Center.
Thiel won by set scores of 21-25, 25-19, 24-26, 27-25 and 15-10.
With the loss, Saint Vincent moved to 14-4 overall and 10-2 in PAC play, while Thiel improved to 20-8 overall and 10-1 in the conference.
Saint Vincent opened the match with a strong first-set showing, claiming a 25-21 victory. The Bearcats totaled 11 kills in the opener and held off Thiel's late push to take the early advantage.
Thiel answered in the second set, hitting .429 as a team with 14 kills and just two errors to even the match with a 25-19 win. Saint Vincent recorded 13 kills in the set, but nine attack errors proved costly as the Tomcats drew even at a set apiece.
The third set was tightly contested throughout, but the Bearcats came through in key moments to earn a 26-24 win and move back in front 2-1 in the match. Saint Vincent hit .135 in the frame and held off another Thiel surge late to take the set.
In the fourth, the two sides battled through another narrow finish. Thiel eventually outlasted Saint Vincent, 27-25, after posting 19 kills on a .310 hitting percentage in the stanza, forcing a decisive fifth set.
The Tomcats then closed out the match with a 15-10 win in the fifth. Thiel hit .375 in the final set, while Saint Vincent was limited to six kills and a .063 attack percentage.
Shawn McSwiggen led the Bearcats offensively with 16 kills and added nine digs, while
Zebadiah Wyant followed with 15 kills, one ace and two blocks.
Tyler Nelson also finished in double figures with 10 kills and a team-high four blocks.
Braeden Artman chipped in eight kills and three blocks for Saint Vincent.
Jack Ryan directed the offense with 44 assists and added 11 digs for a double-double.
Jackson Genicola paced the back row with a team-high 13 digs, while
Owen Ward recorded three service aces.
As a team, Saint Vincent finished with 54 kills, 48 assists, 60 digs, four aces and 12 total blocks. The Bearcats held the edge in blocks, 12-9, but Thiel finished with advantages in kills (70-54), assists (67-48), aces (6-4) and points (85.0-70.0). Thiel also hit .268 for the match, compared to .163 for Saint Vincent.
Thiel was led by Ezra Oesterling, who totaled 27 kills, three aces and 32.0 points. Eli Olszowka handed out 35 assists, Ben Lowell finished with 23 assists and 12 digs, and Will Zimmerman added 10 kills and two aces.
Saint Vincent will now await their playoff opponent and return to action in the 2026 PAC Championship Tournament semifinals on Thursday, April 9 at Saint Vincent.
