Thiel Blanks Men's Volleyball

GREENVILLE, Pa. – John Turner and Andrew Pohlod each recorded 10 kills, while the Thiel men's volleyball team only committed 13 errors in three games to defeat Penn State Behrend 3-0 in non-conference action on Tuesday night.

The Tomcats (8-5) posted their second victory over the Lions (1-10) this season, winning 25-20, 25-22 and 25-14.

Colin Ingram (Hilliard, OH/Hilliard Darby) dished out a team-best 16 assists, helping Grant Kocher (McMurray, PA/Peters Township) record seven kills and Anthony Capizzi (Pittsburgh, PA/Pittsburgh Central Catholic) six kills.

Thiel had a hitting percentage of .520 for the first game, knocking in 15 kills on 25 attempts with just two errors to take the 1-0 lead in the match. Behrend had a one-point advantage in the early points of the game, until two straight kills, a service ace by Pohlod and a block by Kyle Turkalj and Turner gave the Tomcats their first lead at 15-11. Thiel kept the lead and got its final point on a Lions service error.

In game two, the Tomcats started out on top but Behrend got a kill from Nate Steele (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) and two from Kocher to tie the game at 8-all. Thiel slowly pulled away to an 18-13 advantage. The Lions cut the lead to two points on three occasions. Thiel was faced with game point twice, before taking advantage of an attack error for a 25-22 win.

Dante McCoy led the Tomcats in game three, serving seven straight points for a commanding 11-4 lead and forcing Behrend to take a timeout. McCoy had another service run towards the end of the game to put Thiel ahead 23-12 and a kill by Turkalj won the match at 25-14.

Evan Fullerton (Ambridge, PA/Ambridge) was two digs shy of a double-double with 11 assists and eight digs.

The Lions return to action tomorrow against D'Youville. Match time is 7 p.m.