READING, PA – Jamey Mikovich (Nesquehoning, PA/Panther Valley) put away 28 kills and Karlye Huffman (Sugar Run, PA/Wyalusing) tied her career high with 45 assists as the Wilkes University women's volleyball team held off Penn State Berks Thursday night in five sets. The Colonels won the non-conference matchup 3-2 (25-22, 25-16, 20-25, 22-25, 15-13) to snap a four match losing streak.

With the victory Wilkes improved to 13-8 overall. It is only the sixth time in the 44-year history of the program that the team has reached at least 13 wins in a season. Penn State Berks fell to 5-14 overall.

The Nittany Lions led by as many as six points in the first set before Wilkes stormed back to take an early 1-0 advantage in the match. The Colonels scored six consecutive points to tie the set at 20-20 behind the strength of three kills by Alex Ferrier (Cressona, PA/Blue Mountain) and three service aces by Juliet Betke (Poplar Grove, IL/Belvidere North). Three kills by Mikovich and another by Ferrier pushed the Wilkes lead to 24-22 and Analisa Sage (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) closed out the set at 25-22 with an ace.

The Colonels charged out to a 6-0 lead in set number two when Mikovich started things off with four straight kills and Ferrier followed with two more. Penn State Berks closed the score to within two points four times but Wilkes closed strong with the final six points to win 25-16. Mikovich and Ferrier combined for a block on set point to put the Colonels ahead 2-0.

Penn State Berks battled back with victories in sets three and four to even the match at 2-2.

With the match down to a fifth-and-final sprint to 15 points the Colonels dug deep to gain the upper hand. After the Nittany Lions scored the first two points, Mikovich responded with back-to-back kills off assists from Huffman. The two sides then traded points with Laura Booths (Lake Ariel, PA/Western Wayne) and Mikovich having kills and Amy Hadesty (Tamaqua, PA/Tamaqua Area) getting a solo block as the score stood at 5-5. With Penn State Berks leading 7-6 Wilkes strung together three consecutive points to go ahead 9-7 after a Mikovich kill and a Huffman ace provided the final two points in the run. The Nittany Lions then battled back to take a 12-11 lead but after a block assist play by Mikovich and Hadesty and two Nittany Lion errors the Colonels found themselves at match point leading 14-12. After a kill for the home team made it 14-13 Mikovich put away the match with her 28^th kill.

Mikovich recorded her 11^th double-double of the season as she added 12 digs. Betke led the defense with 22 digs and Julie Murphy (Mountaintop, PA/Crestwood) came away with a career high 14 digs. Ferrier tied her season high with 14 kills and added seven digs. Shayna Fehrle (Philadelphia, PA/St. Hubert) also had seven digs. Hadesty tied her career high of five kills and set a new career best mark of three blocks while Booths contributed five kills.

The Colonels return home for a Homecoming non-conference tri-match at the Marts Center on Saturday. Wilkes begins the day at 12:00 p.m. against New Jersey City and closes the day at approximately 4:00 p.m. against Penn State Altoona.