Wilkes Women's Volleyball Swept by Eastern

ST. DAVID'S, PA. – The Wilkes University women's volleyball team lost 3-0 at Eastern University on Tuesday night. Wilkes lost in straight sets by scores of 10-25, 19-25 and 16-25.

With the loss, Wilkes falls to 12-8 overall and 1-3 in MAC Freedom play. Eastern improves to 14-3, 3-1.

The first set was close early on as the Colonels only trailed by one at 7-6. The Eagles would pull away with a 14-1 run to push the lead to 21-7. After a service error stopped the Eagles run, they would finish the set with three straight points to take it by a score of 25-10.

Eastern jumped out to a quick 9-4 lead in the second set before a Christie Challenger (Schuylkill Haven, PA/Blue Mountain) kill pulled Wilkes to within one at 12-11. The Colonels would keep the pressure on as Eastern was unable to stretch their lead to more than four. A kill by Alex Ferrier (Cressona, PA/Blue Mountain) would close the gap to three at 22-19 but that's as close as the Colonels would get as the Eagles scored the next three points to take the second set 25-19.

Wilkes would hold an early 5-3 advantage in the third set before Eastern went on a 6-0 run to take a 9-5 lead. After a Michele Natale (Kinnelon, NJ/Kinnelon) kill made it 10-7, the Eagles would use a 7-0 run to push the lead to 10 at 17-7. The Colonels would answer back with a 6-1 run of their own, capped by a Jamey Mikovich (Nesquehoning, PA/Panther Valley) kill to cut the deficit to four at 19-14. Wilkes would get as close as four before Eastern would score the final five points to win the third set 25-16 to sweep the match.

Mikovich lead the Colonels with 10 kills while Karlye Huffman (Sugar Run, PA/Wyalusing) dished out 23 assists. Defensively, Juliet Betke (Poplar Grove, IL/Belvidere North) recorded 10 digs followed closely by Shayna Fehrle (Philadelphia, PA/St. Hubert) with eight.

Wilkes returns to the floor on Thursday night when it heads to Penn State Berks for a 7:00 p.m. non-conference matchup.