WILKES-BARRE, PA – The Wilkes University men's volleyball team dropped a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) match at crosstown rival King's College on Wednesday night inside McGrane Gymnasium. The Monarchs won in straight sets (25-17, 25-9, 25-19).

Wilkes dropped to 0-2 in the MAC on the season and to 6-9 overall with the road loss. King's improved to 1-1 in the league and to 9-2 overall.

The Colonels kept things close early in the first set but the Monarch's used a 5-0 run to take a 13-7 lead. Wilkes struggled to close the gap from there as the home team took the set 25-17.

King's started the second set with the first five points and an 8-0 run in the middle of the set gave them a 20-8 lead. King's went on to win 25-9.

Wilkes grabbed its first lead of the night at 2-1 following a Zach Shay (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) ace in the third set. The Colonels regained the lead at 14-13 following kills by Noah Taylor (Lumberton, NJ/Rancocas Valley Regional) and Everett Fritz (Ringtown, PA/Hazleton Area). A kill by Paul Binner (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock) kept the Colonels ahead 16-15 and an error by the Monarchs on an attack kept Wilkes ahead 17-16. A 9-2 run by King's finished the night with a 25-19 set victory.

Binner led Wilkes with five kills while Fritz, Taylor, and Lucas Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) all added four. Shay and Casey Shipman (Hershey, PA/Hershey) each had 10 assists and Shipman led Wilkes with five digs. Ethan Speicher (Midlothian, VA/Cosby) had two solo blocks.

Jared Piontkowski led King's with 15 kills while George Beck had 32 assists. Peter Scholl had five blocks and four aces.

Wilkes returns home to the Marts Center for a non-conference tri-match on Saturday when they host Immaculata University at 11:00 a.m. and Wilson College at 3:00 p.m.