WILKES-BARRE – Katie Evans (Berwick, PA/Berwick) got down for a great dig and pass to Kelsey Carroll (Jim Thorpe, PA/Jim Thorpe) who set it quick to middle hitter Michele Natale (Kinnelon, NJ/Kinnelon) where the senior slammed a kill to the floor for the match-clinching point as the Wilkes University women's volleyball team defeated Penn State Berks in a 3-2 non-conference thriller Thursday night at the Marts Center. Set scores were 25-19, 21-25, 30-28, 25-27, 16-14 in the tightly contested match.

Wilkes improved to 13-14 overall with the victory while Penn State Berks dropped to 13-12 overall.

Jamey Mikovich (Nesquehoning, PA/Panther Valley) led Wilkes with 21 kills and a new career-high of 28 digs. The senior also collected four aces. Natale's final kill produced her career-high of 12 on the night as the senior had a .407 hitting percentage. Alex Ferrier (Auburn, PA/Blue Mountain) also reached double-digit kills for the Colonels with 13 and added a career-high of four blocks.

Amy Hadesty (Tamaqua, PA/Tamaqua Area) also set her personal-high with six blocks. Evans finished with a season-high of 11 digs and a career-high of three aces. Carroll finished with a career-best 12 assists including the one on the final point. Karlye Huffman (Sugar Run, PA/Wyalusing) also directed the Wilkes offense with 34 assists of her own with three aces.  Julie Murphy (Mountaintop, PA/Crestwood) had 21 digs and Caitlin Bower (Blandon, PA/Fleetwood) was also one of five Colonels in double-figures for digs with 10 as Wilkes racked up 91 total digs, its second-highest total of the year.

Wilkes held a slight lead in aces at 12-11 and blocks at 8-6 in the match. Penn State Berks led with 61 kills compared to 57 and had a 58-56 assists lead. The two sides were tied with 91 digs each.

The visiting Nittany Lions led 9-6 in set one before the Colonels went ahead 10-9 with a four-point run capped by a Ferrier and Hadesty block. Penn State Berks went back ahead at 16-15 and 17-16 but Wilkes made the decisive run with the next four points to lead 20-17 following a Huffman ace and Mikovich kill. Laura Booths (Lake Ariel, PA/Western Wayne) had one of her four kills on the night to close the set at 25-19 to give Wilkes a 1-0 lead.

After the Colonels scored the first five points of set two the Nittany Lions scored the next nine. Wilkes then went on a run of its own to lead the set 17-13 following an Evans ace. Penn State Berks responded with a 12-4 run to win the second set 25-21 and even the match.

In a marathon 27-minute third set the Colonels started out front with an 11-7 lead. Penn State Berks then went ahead 17-14 but Wilkes responded with a run to go ahead 20-18 after a Mikovich ace. Wilkes would get to set-point at 24-21 but Berks scored the next three points to force overtime. The Nittany Lions would save two more set points and the Colonels would stave off one Berks set-point opportunity by stringing together two points on a Mikovich kill and a Nittany Lions attack error to win the third set 30-28 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.

Penn State Berks sprinted out to a 12-4 lead in the fourth set but Wilkes went on a 9-1 run of its own to tie the set at 13 all. The two sides would trade points the rest of the way as the set went into overtime points again. This time it was the Nittany Lions that scored the final three points to win the fourth set 27-25 and send the match to a fifth set.

The teams traded points until Berks scored two in a row to take a 6-4 lead in the sprint to 15 points. A Ferrier kill and a block by Ferrier and Hadesty though tied the score at six. Wilkes then took a 9-7 lead after an ace by Huffman. A Mikovich kill put Wilkes up 11-8 but the Nittany Lions scored six of the next eight points to take a 14-13 lead and have a chance at match point. Following a time out by Wilkes the serve went into the net and then Evans served up an ace to give Wilkes a 15-14 lead. That set the stage for the final point and the Colonels 16-14 victory in set five.

Zoe Barna collected a match-high 23 kills for the Nittany Lions and Julia Rathsam had a match-high 27 assists while adding 26 digs from the setter position. Natalie Dwyer had a match-high five aces and added 18 digs in the losing effort.

The Colonels host Rutgers-Camden and Messiah College on Saturday in a non-conference tri-match inside the Marts Center starting at 11:00 a.m. Wilkes is 3-6 since 2015 against Rutgers-Camden, including a 3-0 loss in Camden, N.J. on September 21st. The meeting with Messiah will be the first match between the two schools since 2015. Messiah holds a 3-0 series lead dating back to 2010.