WILKES-BARRE – Noah Taylor (Lumberton, NJ/Rancocas Valley Regional) led the attack on Saturday night when the Wilkes University men's volleyball team swept a tri-match with a 3-0 victory over Mount Aloysius College and a 3-2 victory over Bard College at the Marts Center. The Colonels won sets (25-19, 25-15, 25-18) against the Mounties and (25-22, 25-23, 22-25, 19-25, 15-7) over the Raptors.

With the two non-conference victories Wilkes improved to 3-4 overall on the season. Mount Aloysius and Bard both fell to 2-2 with the losses to Wilkes.

Taylor led a balanced attack in the first match victory over Mount Aloysius with eight kills. Ethan Speicher (Midlothian, VA/Cosby) and Everett Fritz (Ringtown, PA/Hazleton Area) each added seven kills. Casey Shipman (Hershey, PA/Hershey) recorded 15 assists and Zach Shay (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) had 11. Adan Sandoval (Lebanon, PA/Lebanon), Lucas Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) and Taylor all had five digs. Taylor added four service aces.

In the first set the Colonels took the lead for good at 12-11 and pulled away to a 25-19 win as Speicher finished the set with a kill. The second set was similar with Wilkes taking the lead for good at 12-11 and pulling away runs of three, six, and three points to win 25-15. The final point came on a block by Mages and Speicher. In the third set Wilkes grabbed the lead for good at 13-12 as part of a 5-0 run. The Colonels would close strong again and take the final point for the sweep on a Taylor kill at 25-18.

The Mounties were led by eight kills from Tayshaun Johnson and eight digs by John Ayala.

The second match saw Wilkes take the first two sets before Bard battled back with the next two. Wilkes then controlled the fifth set to 15 to take the 3-2 win.

Taylor led the way with a career high 14 kills and he added eight digs. Fritz had 10 kills and hit .348 in the match. Binner tied his career high with nine kills. Shay led with 20 assists while Shipman picked up a double-double with 16 assists and a team-high 12 digs. Sandolval had 10 digs and Mages added eight. Speicher and Jacob Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) had three blocks each.

Wilkes took the lead for good in the first set at 19-18 on a kill by Fritz. A 7-4 run gave the Colonels the 25-22 win which finished on a J. Mages kill. In the second set the Colonels grabbed the lead at 18-17 on an attack error by the Raptors. Wilkes saw its lead grow to 24-20 before Bard scored the next three points but a Speicher kill gave the Colonels the 25-23 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.

Wilkes led by four early in the third set at 6-2 but Bard stayed alive by closing on an extended 23-16 run to win 25-22. In the fourth set Wilkes led by three at 12-9 but Bard again gained momentum, finishing on a 16-7 run to win 25-19 and force a fifth set.

After the Raptors led 4-2, the Colonels scored four in a row to go ahead 6-4 with Taylor and Fritz each recording a kill in the run. Bard closed the lead to 7-6 but a 7-1 run for Wilkes closed the set at 15-7 and clinched the match 3-2.

Ty McGlynn led all players with 26 kills and tied teammate Ben Casler with 15 digs. Josh Kim had 44 assists while Quincy Ross had six blocks for the Raptors.

Wilkes will remain at the Marts Center with match four of a seven-match home stand when they welcome Neumann University in for a 7:00 p.m. game on Tuesday.