WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's volleyball team saw five players record at least six kills to lead the Colonels to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-17) sweep of visiting SUNY Potsdam Friday night at the Marts Center.

Wilkes improved to 5-3 overall with the non-conference victory. Potsdam dropped to 1-3 overall with the loss.

The Colonels got off to a fast start with kills from Ethan Speicher (Midlothian, VA/Cosby), Andrew Potter (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth), Alberto Ramon (Allentown, PA/William Allen), Cole Hefner (East Greenville, PA/Southern Lehigh) and Everett Fritz (Ringtown, PA/Hazleton Area) followed by a Zach Shay (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) service ace and an error on the Bears to take a 7-2 lead in the first set. Wilkes was able to maintain a comfortable margin the remainder of the set and scored the last point on a Speicher kill to win 25-17.

The second set saw Wilkes gain a 6-2 lead behind points from kills by Potter, Randall Rykiel (Glen Burnie, MD/Archbishop Curley), Fritz, and Zach Evans (Nescopeck, PA/Berwick) as well as an ace from Potter and a combination block by Konnor Pierce (Souderton, PA/Souderton) and Fritz. Potsdam battled back to take an 8-7 lead but the Colonels had an answer in the form of a 6-0 run to go back ahead 13-8. Evans and Potter started the rally with kills and then the Bears committed four consecutive attack errors. Wilkes then built its lead to as many as seven points before Potsdam closed to within three at 20-17. A service error followed by a block by Shay and Pierce righted the ship for the Colonels and they would win the second set 25-18 following a Pierce kill.

Potsdam gained an early 4-2 lead in the third set but the Colonels answered back with five-straight points, headed by a Rykiel kill and solo block to take a 7-4 lead. The Bears followed with the next four points to take the lead back. The score remained one point either way until Wilkes went on an 11-3 run to close out the set that once stood tied at 14-14. In the run Rykiel, Fritz and Speicher each collected two kills as the Colonels won 25-17 for the sweep.

Evans and Potter led Wilkes with eight kills while Speicher and Rykiel each added seven. Fritz was right on their heels with a career-best six kills on the night. Shay spread the ball around as he collected 29 assists. Potter recorded three aces for his season high.

Ramon led the Colonels with a career-high 17 digs from his libero position. Evans also recorded a career-high with seven digs. At the net Fritz tied his career-high with three blocks to lead the Colonels.

Wilkes led in the major statistical categories including kills 42-24, hitting percentage .240 to .077, aces 5-4, blocks 7-6, assists 32-24, and digs 43-38.

Zaire Rogers led Potsdam with a match-high nine kills while Brendan Wall had nine digs.

The Colonels return to action tomorrow hosting a tri-match at the Marts Center. Wilkes will face the College of Mount Saint Vincent at 11:00 a.m. before finishing the day against The Sage Colleges at 3:00 p.m. The Colonels are 1-1 all-time versus Mount Saint Vincent while they will be meeting Sage for the first time.