WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's volleyball squad opened Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) play Thursday night against the Misericordia Cougars and the Widener Pride.
 
The Colonels (9-7, 1-1 MAC) fell 3-0 (14-25, 16-25, 18-25) to the Cougars (10-6, 2-0) before bouncing back to take down the Pride (4-5, 0-4) 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 33-31) in a frenetic third set.
 
The Colonels found little footing in the first match against the Cougars.  In the first set, the Cougars jumped out to an 18-7 lead and never looked back.  The Cougars took an 11-4 lead in the second set which the Colonels never overcame.  The Colonels managed an early 9-7 lead off of a 6-3 run in the third set, but the Cougars responded with a 10-2 run on their way to a sweep of the Colonels.  The Colonels hit .000 in the conference affair.
 
In the second match against the Pride, the Colonels hit their stride.  They battled back and forth in the first set with the Pride, with neither team taking more than a three point edge in the set.  The squads were knotted at 20 all before a 6-2 run sealed the set for the Colonels.  Wilkes built up a small edge in the early going of the second period, with the Colonels leading 14-11 roughly halfway through the set.  Junior outside hitter Andrew Potter (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth) had four kills to help full a 8-2 Colonel run to put the set firmly in the Colonels favor.
 
The Pride found control throughout most of the third set, setting the tone of the set with an 8-2 run early on.  Wilkes managed to get within one point, but an 8-3 run put the Pride within striking distance of victory 23-17.   Freshman Randall Rykiel's (Glen Burnie, MD/Archbishop Curley) serving fueled a 7-0 comeback by the Colonels to force extra points.  The pair kept trading points back and forth, with each trading two points back and forth twice to leave the Colonels up 28-27, and then trading single points back and forth until the pair were tied up at 31 all.
 
After a Potter kill to get the serve back, Rykiel served and Zach Shay (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) put away an overpass with a kill to take home the set and match victory for the Colonels 33-31.
 
Potter led the Colonels with 12 kills on the evening.  Four Wilkes players had eight or more digs in the sweep.  Freshman setter Shay had 29 assists to help push the Colonels past the Pride. Zach Evans (Nescopeck, PA/Berwick) also added 10 kills.  The Colonels hit .208 in the match and held the Pride to .051 hitting.
 
The Colonels hit the road for a non-conference matchup against the Bard Raptors.  First serve will be at 6:00 p.m. next Tuesday at Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.  In a home matchup earlier this month on 2/2, the Colonels swept Bard 3-0 (25-10, 25-14, 25-17).