WILKES-BARRE, PA – The Wilkes University women's volleyball squad continued Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom play with a short trip to crosstown rival King's.
 
The Colonels (8-14, 1-4 MACF) gave the Monarchs (15-2, 3-2) everything they could handle in the 3-2 (23-25, 25-19, 20-25, 25-19, 11-15) loss.
 
Neither squad held more than a two-point edge early in the first set, but a 5-0 Colonels run gave them a 15-12 edge, and a 5-2 run pushed the Colonels to a 20-16 lead. King's roared back with a 9-3 run to take the set from the Colonels.  The two teams proved to be an even match through most of the second set, the Colonels being the first team to take more than a two-point advantage.  The young first years Jaclyn Rawa (West Chester, PA/Henderson) and Alexis Reedy (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra Area) stepped up to pull the set away from the Monarchs with a 7-1 to take a decisive 22-18 edge in the set in a run featuring three kills from Reedy and an ace from Rawa.
 
King's bounced back early in the third set, taking a 11-1 run to blow apart a 6-6 tie.  The Colonels battled valiantly late in the set, finishing the losing set on a 9-3 run.  The Colonels bounced out to an early lead in the fourth set 7-3.  The Monarchs would never get closer than three points within the Colonels margin as the Navy and Gold forced a decisive fifth set for all of the marbles.
 
The Colonels would force an early 4-4 tie and find themselves within one point of the Monarchs for most of the final frame, but a 6-3 run by Kings late in the set put the match in the Monarchs favor.
 
Several Colonels set career highs in the loss.  First year setter Alexa Cassel (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin) had a career high 46 assists, while Reedy had 19 kills.  Both were highs across both squads.  Rawa and Cassel tied for the Colonel lead in service aces with four apiece, leading the Monarchs in aces 15-3.  Rawa's total was also her career high, while sophomore Nicole Fitzpatrick (Newhampton, NY/Minisink Valley) set a career high with seven blocks to lead both teams.  Junior Kelsey Carroll (Jim Thorpe, PA/Jim Thorpe) set career highs in kills (12) and digs (21). 
 
King's had 25 errors to the Colonels 41, while the Colonels led them in every major statistical category besides digs.
 
The Colonels look to snap their losing streak as they travel to Reading, Pa. to play Penn State Berks next Monday at 7:00 p.m.  The Navy and Gold are 5-4 in the live stats era against the Nittany Lions, winning the last matchup 3-2 at home in 2019.