WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University women's volleyball team had an excellent serving day with 37 total service aces compared to just one for its opponents during a tri-match sweep of Medgar Evers College and Wesley College at the Marts Center Saturday. The Colonels took the opening match 3-0 (25-12, 25-5, 25-14) over Medgar Evers and then finished the day with a 3-1 (25-11, 25-27, 25-13, 25-20) victory against Wesley.

Wilkes recorded 23 service aces to put away Medgar Evers in the day's first match. Kristie Najdek (Bethpage, NY/Island Trees) led the way with eight aces while Christie Challenger (Schuylkill Haven, PA/Blue Mountain) and Katie Shue (Cornelius, NC/Pine Lake Preperatory) added seven and five respectively.

Shue keyed the first set victory with a four-point service run to make the score 6-2 and then a five-point stretch to run the score to 23-9. Laura Booths (Lake Ariel, PA/Western Wayne) connected on a kill to end the first set with the score 25-12 in favor of the Colonels.

Najdek started set two from the service line with Wilkes recording the first eight points. She recorded four aces in the stretch. Challenger then had seven consecutive aces in a Colonels run that extended their lead to 20-1. Sierra Smith's (Syracuse, NY/West Genesee) service ace provided the final point as Wilkes took set two 25-5.

The Cougars started the third set by taking a 4-0 lead but the Colonels were able to take their first lead at 6-5 and then went on a 10-point run to go ahead 19-7 with Najdek serving. The match ended on a Medgar Evers attack error to give Wilkes the 25-14 set victory and its fifth straight-set win of the season.

Booths led Wilkes with seven kills while Smith recorded five kills and a career high eight digs. Jamie Sayre (Spencer, NY/Spencer-Van Etten) tied her career high with four kills while Karlye Huffman (Sugar Run, PA/Wyalusing) directed the offense with 18 assists while adding four kills and four digs. Katie Evans (Berwick, PA/Berwick) led the Colonels defense with 11 digs. Amy Hadesty (Tamaqua, PA/Tamaqua Area) had two kills and a block and Analisa Sage (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) contributed two services aces.

Wilkes continued to serve well in the second match against Wesley as Smith followed a Michele Natale (Kinnelon, NJ/Kinnelon) kill with two service aces to give the Colonels a 9-5 lead in the opening set. Jamey Mikovich (Nesquehoning, PA/Panther Valley) connected on three kills and Natale added another in a four-point run for Wilkes that extended the lead to 17-9. Wilkes continued to pull away and ended the set with the 25-11 victory after a Mikovich kill and a Smith ace.

Wesley battled back in the second set as the Wolverines jumped ahead 18-12. Wilkes was able to get back in the set with a nice service run with Mikovich and then Smith at the line to go on an 11-1 extended run to find themselves ahead 23-19. Then it was Wesley's turn to go on a run as they scored seven of the next nine points to take the second set 27-25.

The Colonels responded well in the third set as they took control with an eight-point run to grab a 14-6 lead. Natale starred in the run as she had two kills and two blocks. From there Wilkes pulled away to take a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-13 final score.

Mikovich was key in the fourth set when she had a kill, a block and another kill in a three-point sequence to give Wilkes the 13-10 lead. The Colonels extended the lead to 22-14 after a Juliet Betke (Poplar Grove, IL/Belvidere North) ace before finishing out the set at 25-20 with a back-to-back kills by Mikovich.

Huffman dished out a career high 45 assists to direct the offense. Betke led the defense with a career high 31 digs. Mikovich recorded a double-double with a season high 18 kills to go along with 20 digs. She also tied her career high with four aces. Natale put away a career high 11 kills and Alex Ferrier (Cressona, PA/Blue Mountain) had 13 kills and a season high eight digs.

Shayna Fehrle (Philadelphia, PA/St. Hubert) set a season high with 13 digs and Challenger recorded six digs for her career high. Smith set career-best marks with seven kills and six aces. Julie Murphy (Mountaintop, PA/Crestwood) added eight digs for a defense that set a season high mark with 99 total digs in the four-set match.  

After today's non-conference sweep Wilkes stands at 8-3 overall this season. Medgar Evers closed the day with a 1-8 record and Wesley stands at 2-8.

The Colonels return to the court Tuesday night when they travel to FDU-Florham for a Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) match at 7:00 p.m. in Madison, N.J.