READING, PA – Jones Mensah (Philadelphia, Pa./Central) tied a career-high with 13 kills and Daniel Sales (Laflin, Pa./James M. Coughlin) recorded a double-double as the Wilkes University men's volleyball team opened the second half of Middle Atlantic Conference play looking to make a push toward the MAC postseason but the Colonels fell in four sets at Alvernia University Saturday afternoon (25-15, 25-20, 23-25, 25-21).

Wilkes fell to 6-16 overall and to 2-5 in MAC competition while Alvernia evened its overall record at 11-11 and improved to 5-3 in the conference.

The Golden Wolves gained the lead at 2-1 in the opening set and never looked back on their way to the 25-15 set win. Dylan Smith (York, Pa./Dallastown) pulled the Colonels to within one point at 8-7 but Wilkes was never able to tie the score after that.

The Colonels gained a 4-1 lead early in the second set after Mensah put away a kill and Cole Hefner (East Greenville, Pa./Southern Lehigh) and Mensah combined for a block on the next point. Alvernia then scored five consecutive points to gain a 6-4 lead but Wilkes was helped by Alvernia errors to take an 8-7 lead. After the Golden Wolves gained an 11-10 lead Sales tied the score with kills at 11-11 and 12-12 and Mensah tied it at 13-13. Alvernia then connected for consecutive points and slowly stretched the lead until winning set two 25-20.

Looking for the sweep, Alvernia gained three-point leads at 4-1, 5-2, and 10-7 early in the third set before a Salvatore Purpura (Plains, Pa./James M. Coughlin) kill and two Golden Wolves attack errors helped Wilkes knot the score at 10. The Colonels then gained the lead at 13-12 and a Smith kill on the next point pushed the lead to two points. Wilkes then used a four-point run to stretch the lead to 18-13, capped by a Purpura ace. Hefner connected on a kill off the Alvernia block to give Wilkes its largest lead of the set at 20-14 but the home team scored six of the next seven points to close the score to 21-20. Then back-to-back kills from Sales and Mensah stopped that particular Alvernia push but the Golden Wolves scored three in a row to tie the set at 23. The Wilkes block was up to the task however as Andrew Potter (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth) and Brian Schumacher (Fleetwood, Pa./Fleetwood) combined for a block to give the Colonels set point and then Smith and Schumacher blocked the Alvernia attack on the next play to extend the match to a fourth set with a 25-23 set win for the road squad.

Wilkes came out strong in the fourth set by gaining a 5-1 lead. Alvernia slowly chipped into the advantage and tied the score at 11 before Potter kept Wilkes ahead with a kill and Mensah and Schumacher combined for a block on the next play. The Golden Wolves then scored three points consecutively to take a 14-13 lead. The Colonels tied the score or trailed by one until another three-point run gave Alvernia the breathing room it needed on its way to winning the fourth set 25-21 and nailing down the 3-1 match victory.

Sales posted his fourth double-double of the season and 11^th of his career with 21 assists and a career-high 19 digs. He also added eight kills.

Smith finished with seven kills and nine digs while Potter added five kills and a career-best six blocks. Michael Henne (Northampton, Pa./Northampton) had eight digs and Kyle Price (Mountaintop, Pa./Crestwood) added seven.  Purpura finished with four digs and 14 assists.

Schumacher tied his career-high with six blocks and Hefner also was strong at the net with five blocks as the Colonels held an 11-8 advantage in blocks.

Collin Welteroth had a match-high 18 kills and also 13 digs to lead the way for Alvernia. Logan McGinley added 13 kills and Ralph Lunati III had 11 kills and nine digs. Justin Gibbs directed the Golden Wolves offense with 40 assists.

The Colonels go for the season sweep against Widener University when they host the Pride at the Marts Center on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.