BRONX, N.Y. – The Wilkes University men's volleyball team returned to action Thursday night and dropped a non-conference match 3-0 at Lehman College by set scores of 25-12, 25-13, and 25-22.

Wilkes fell to 6-15 overall this season while Lehman improved its record to 12-8.

The Colonels opened set one with a 3-1 lead on two service errors by Lightning players and a kill by Cole Hefner (East Greenville, Pa./Southern Lehigh) off an assist from Salvatore Purpura (Plains, Pa./James M. Coughlin). Lehman then used a 10-2 run to take a controlling 11-5 lead. A kill by Brian Schumacher (Fleetwood, Pa./Fleetwood) stopped the run by the Lightning but Wilkes was unable to close the gap and Lehman cruised to a 25-12 set win.

Wilkes started strong in set two. Back-to-back kills by Schumacher and Dylan Smith (York, Pa./Dallastown) off passes from Daniel Sales (Laflin, Pa./James M. Coughlin) gave the Colonels the 3-2 edge. A Jones Mensah (Philadelphia, Pa./Central) kill kept Wilkes ahead at 6-4 and a service error by Lehman provided the Colonels with a 7-6 lead before the hosts would score the next four points. Andrew Potter (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth) provided a kill to close the score to 10-8 in favor of the Lightning but Lehman finished the set on a 15-5 run to take a 2-0 match lead.

The Colonels again led early in the third set, this time jumping out to a 6-4 advantage. Lehman then scored four straight points to take the lead. Sales completed a run of three points in a row to pull Wilkes back within one point at 18-17 before the Lightning reached match point at 24-19. A kill by Schumacher, a Lehman attack error, and a kill by Mensah kept the Colonels alive before Lehman captured the final point to win the set 25-22 and complete the sweep.

Schumacher led the way offensively for Wilkes with a .357 hitting percentage on six kills with one error in 14 total attacks. Potter was second on the team with five kills. Sales assisted 11 times and Purpura finished with eight assists. Defensively Smith led the Colonels with eight digs. Kyle Price (Mountaintop, Pa./Crestwood) followed with six and Michael Henne (Northampton, Pa./Northampton) contributed five digs.

Roberto Ventura Diaz finished with a match-high 10 kills to lead Lehman. George Montilla (31 assists) and Juan Carlos Santos (10 digs) also led the Lightning.

Wilkes jumps back into Middle Atlantic Conference action with a contest at 12:00 p.m. Saturday in Reading, Pa. against Alvernia University.