WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University Colonels hosted PSU-Altoona at the Marts Center for a men's volleyball non-conference matchup Thursday night.
 
The Colonels (5-7) fell in straight sets to the Lions (3-4) 3-0 (25-9, 25-21, 25-19) in a match where the Lions hit .310 percent to the Colonels .090.
 
The Lions gradually built up their lead through the first set before breaking off a 13-3 run to cruise to a 25-9 victory.  They started off the second set on a 10-2 run and led by 18-8.  An 8-4 run by the Colonels pushed them within 22-16 of the Lions, and a 5-2 run followed by the Navy and Gold pushed them within 24-21, but PSU-Altoona found the last point they needed to clinch the set.
 
The two teams were neck and neck through most of the third set, with the Colonels taking a 11-10 lead off of a 3-0 run.  The Lions replied with a 4-0 run to take a 14-11 edge and would never trail again.  The teams exchanged points before the Lions found a 5-0 run to take a 22-16 advantage and to effectively close the Colonels out of the 25-19 set. 
 
PSU-Altoona recorded nine aces to the Colonels two and won the kill battle 34-24.  Senior Everett Fritz (Ringtown, PA/Hazleton Area) recorded his season-high four blocks on the night.  Sophomore Paul Binner (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock) had a career-high 10 assists in the losing effort.  Jared Bodisch had six aces and eight kills to lead PSU-Altoona in both categories, while Connor Baker had 27 assists for a match high.
 
The Colonels return to action Saturday for a tri-match starting at 11:00 a.m. to open their Middle Atlantic Conference slate.  They play defending champion Messiah at 11:00 a.m. before a non-conference matchup with Wells at 3:00 p.m.  The Colonels are 0-6 against Messiah and 0-1 against Wells in program history.