WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University women's volleyball team suffered a 3-1 defeat to Lancaster Bible College at the Marts Center on Thursday night. After taking the first set 25-22, Wilkes dropped the next three sets by scores of 19-25, 22-25 and 21-25.

With the loss, the Colonels fall to 4-2. The Chargers win their third straight match to improve to 3-3.

In the first set, Wilkes raced out to a 9-5 lead thanks to a service ace by Katie Shue (Cornelius, NC/Pine Lake Preperatory). Lancaster Bible charged back with four straight points to tie the set at 9-9. It was a tightly contested set as neither team could take more than a two point advantage. With the score tied at 20-20, the Chargers made four errors in a five point stretch to give Wilkes a 24-21 lead, forcing Lancaster Bible to call a timeout. The Chargers scored the next point but a service error by Hannah Thompson ended the comeback effort and gave the Colonels the first set victory.

The second set was a much different story as Lancaster Bible raced out to an 8-2 lead. Wilkes got back to within three points at 10-7 when Alex Ferrier (Cressona, PA/Blue Mountain) notched a kill off a set from Karlye Huffman (Sugar Run, PA/Wyalusing). The Chargers responded by scoring the next four points and stretching their lead to 14-7. The Colonels would not go away as they scored four straight points of their own, capped by a Jamey Mikovich (Nesquehoning, PA/Panther Valley) service ace to pull within three at 18-15. Lancaster Bible would not let this set slip away as they went on a 7-2 run to make it set point at 24-17. After two consecutive tallies for the Colonels, Hannah Gipe closed out the set for the Chargers with a kill to tie the match at 1-1.

Set three was a similar story as Lancaster Bible would again jump out to an early lead at 9-2. The Colonels scored five of the next six points thanks in part to a trio of kills by Michele Natale (Kinnelon, NJ/Kinnelon), Shue and Huffman to lower the deficit to three at 10-7. After a stretch where both teams traded points, the Colonels used a Natale kill and Mikovich service ace to pull within three at 17-14. A kill by Mikovich that was assisted by Huffman left Wilkes trailing by only two at 23-21. The Chargers would go on to score two of the next three points to take the set by a score of 25-22 and give them a 2-1 match lead.

In the fourth set, Wilkes hung tough early on and was tied 10-10 with Lancaster Bible. The Colonels would tie the set again, this time at 15-15 when Juliet Betke (Poplar Grove, IL/Belvidere North) set up Mikovich for another kill. The Chargers then went on a 7-2 run to start to pull away from the Colonels at 22-17. A Natale kill shrunk the deficit to three at 22-19. Wilkes got to within three one more time after a Ferrier kill made it 24-21. Lancaster Bible called a timeout to settle things down and a service error by Wilkes ended the comeback attempt and gave the Chargers a 3-1 victory.

Mikovich led the Colonels with 12 kills while Natale and Ferrier each had nine. Huffman's strong play continued as she led Wilkes with 36 assists while adding four digs and two kills. On the defensive end, Betke registered 23 digs and Natale added three blocks.

Wilkes returns to action on Saturday, September 8^th when they head to Penn State Harrisburg for a tri-match against the host Nittany Lions at 11:00 a.m. followed by a showdown with Shenandoah University at 1:00 p.m.