BETHANY, W.Va. - The Bethany College men's volleyball team fell to Thiel (Pa.) College by a final score of 3-2 in a Presidents' Athletic Conference match to conclude the 2026 season on Joe Kurey Memorial Court inside Hummel Fieldhouse.
Bethany (2-19, 1-11 PAC) closed the 2026 campaign by taking the number-one ranked team in the conference to the fifth set. The Green and White led Thiel (21-8, 11-1 PAC) for most of the match including outhitting the Tomcats .222 to .071 in the fourth set to keep the upset bid alive. Sophomore All-PAC outside hitter
Riley Burdett (Jefferson Hills, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) recorded a season-high 16 kills falling just one short of his own single-game program record to lead Bethany against the Tomcats before Thiel prepares to host the first round of the PAC Tournament.
Bethany Leaders
- Sophomore Academic All-PAC libero Cole Thomas (Lindside, W.Va./James Monroe) reached double figures in digs for the fifth time this season with 11 and four assists in his final game for the Bison
- Freshman setter Zachary Kay (Little Egg Harbor, N.J./Pinelands) set a new career-best 35 assists and also posted five digs, four kills, and two blocks
- Freshman outside hitter Braeden Reedus (Blacklick, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) also reached a career-high in kills with eight along with five digs, one block and one ace.
- Sophomore setter Baylen Loosier (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pittsburgh Science & Tech Academy) contributed a season-high nine kills as well as five digs and one service ace for the Bison
- Junior middle blocker Rylan Trapp (Belleville, Ill./Belleville Township) also put down three blocks and tallied four digs and one ace
- Junior middle blocker McKay Ginez (Santa Maria, Calif./Pioneer Valley) finished with a statline of five digs, four kills, and three blocks
- Junior outside hitter Tyler Johnson (Oswego, Ill.) had two kills in part of the team total with three digs
- In addition to his game-high 16 kills, Burdett added eight digs, two assists, a block solo, and a block assist
Thiel Leaders
- Sophomore outside hitter Ezra Oesterling led the Tomcat offense with 11 kills
- Freshman setter Hayden Daubenspeck assisted a team-best 32 times
- Senior libero Brandon Gala dug out 10 Bethany attacks to lead the Thiel defense
First Set (Thiel 25-18)
- Thiel led 14-10 in kills
- Bison hit .111
- Tomcats hit .370
Second Set (Bethany 25-23)
- Thiel led 12-10 in kills
- Bison hit .172
- Tomcats hit .125
Third Set (Thiel 25-15)
- Thiel led 10-6 in kills
- Bison hit -.105
- Tomcats hit .176
Fourth Set (Bethany 25-23)
- Bethany led 25-23 in kills
- Bison hit .222
- Tomcats hit .071
Fifth Set (Thiel 15-5)
- Thiel led 5-4 in kills
- Bison hit .100
- Tomcats hit .571
