misericrodia box score 
marywood box score

WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University volleyball team improved to 3-0 on the year with a 3-2 (20-25, 25-20, 25-17, 21-25, 16-14) win over Misericordia and a 3-1 (25-14, 25-14, 25-27, 25-21) victory over Marywood. First-year head coach Lisa Rizzo has led the Lady Colonels to their best start in recent history.

In the first match, Wilkes was able to overcome the fact that the Lady Cougars recorded more kills (55-46), more attacks (168-159) and more digs (85-80) and had a better hitting percentage. Seven different Wilkes players recorded at least one kill and a dig and the team combined for seven blocks.

In the first game in the Misericordia match, both teams exchanged points before the Lady Cougars used a 5-0 run to take a 15-10 advantage. The Lady Colonels were able to pull within two (18-20) but would come no closer as the Lady Cougars took an early 1-0 match lead.

The second game saw Wilkes jump out to a 4-0 lead and it never looked back. The Lady Colonels would eventually lead 10-5 after a Meaghan Williams (Hamlin/Western Wayne) kill. Julie Page (New Milford, Pa./Blue Ridge) gave Wilkes its largest lead of the game (17-10) on a kill down the line. The Lady Colonels would lead 24-17 before Misericordia answered with three-straight points. The game would end on a service error by Kristin Hoffman.

The Lady Colonels took a 2-1 match advantage after their 25-17 win in game three. They hit .296 for the game, collecting 10 kills, four of which came from Marissa Harrison (Shavertown/Lake-Lehman), with just two errors. Harrison led Wilkes in both games in kills with 17 and 15 respectively, while libero Allison Kelleher (Sayre, Pa./Athens Area) tallied 52 kills in both matches.

Misericordia would bounce back in game four to tie the match at two games each. Wilkes led 10-7, but it would be the last lead they saw the rest of the game. Five-straight points by the Lacy Cougars gave them a 12-10 lead before Wilkes would tie the game at 16. Neither team would take more than a one-point advantage until Misericordia closed out the match with a 5-1 run to win 25-21.

In the fifth and deciding game, Misericordia took a 10-7 advantage after Lexi Goble registered a kill. Wilkes would go on a 6-3 run to tie the game at 13. A Misericordia service error gave Wilkes a 15-14 advantage before Harrison ended the match with a kill down the line.

In the second match, the Colonels took advantage of numerous miscues by Marywood, which hit -.007 for the match. The Pacers collected 31 kills in the match, but the Lady Colonels took advantage of 32 attack errors and 12 service miscues.

Harrison picked up her third-straight double-double with 15 kills and 11 digs, while Kate McGurk (Swarthmore/Ridley) and Julie Page (New Milford, Pa./Blue Ridge) had five kills apiece. Wilkes had an opportunity to sweep the Pacers leading 24-23, but a Wilkes attack error tied the game at 24. Emily Fillman gave Marywood a 25-24 lead until Kelleher tied the game at 25 with a kill from the back row. Marywood would score the final two points of the game to push a game four.

In the fourth and final game, the Lady Colonels tallied nine kills, six of which came from Harrison and 21 digs.

Wilkes will be in action tomorrow when it takes on Mount Saint Mary's and King's to conclude the tournament.