WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's volleyball team swept visiting Neumann University 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-21) to open the 2020 season in non-conference action at the Marts Center Tuesday night.

Senior Cole Hefner (East Greenville, PA/Southern Lehigh) led the Colonels offense with nine kills while junior Andrew Potter (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth) was close behind with eight kills and a career-high tying 13 digs.

Wilkes used a five-point run to open a 7-2 early on in the first set, spearheaded by Hefner and Everett Fritz (Ringtown, PA/Hazleton Area) who combined for a block and each had a kill. Another five-point rally pushed the Colonels lead to 12-4. In that run Fritz and Brian Vu (Wantagh, NY/MacArthur) each had a kill while Hefner provided an ace and Fritz and Ethan Speicher (Midlothian, VA/Cosby) assisted on a block. Neumann (1-2) would not climb any closer than five points the rest of the way before Speicher finished the opening set with a kill at 25-18.

In the second set freshmen Randall Rykiel (Glen Burnie, MD/Archbishop Curley) and Zach Evans (Nescopeck, PA/Berwick) put away kills that pushed Wilkes ahead 10-6. Two consecutive kills by Hefner extended the lead to 17-11 and following a block by Hefner and Rykiel the Colonels lead stood at 20-13. Wilkes would close on a 5-0 run to take the second set 25-16 as Evans finished with the final kill on a broken play.

The Colonels built a 15-12 lead in the third set but the Knights battled back with a five-point run to take a 17-15 lead and force a Wilkes timeout. The Colonels responded with the next five points including two blocks by Hefner and Evans to take the lead back at 20-17. The two sides traded points from there before Potter connected on the final kill to hand Wilkes the 3-0 sweep with a 25-21 set three win.

Wilkes hit .302 as a team and held Neumann to a -.013 hitting percentage. The Colonels also led 39-18 in kills, 9-5 in aces, and 6-0 in total blocks.

Zach Shay (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) made his Colonels freshman setting debut with 32 assists as he directed the offense. Shay added four digs to his line. In addition to his match-leading nine kills, Hefner also led with five aces and four blocks. Evans finished with seven kills while Speicher put away five.

The Colonels take to the road for their next match when they face Elizabethtown College at 7:00 p.m. Thursday night.