Wilkes Men's Volleyball Drops Senior Night Match to King's
WILKES-BARRE, PA – The Wilkes University Colonels hosted the King's College Monarchs for Senior Night at the Marts Center Wednesday evening.
The Colonels (9-20, 1-10 MACF) fell to the Monarchs (14-11, 3-9) in straight sets in 3-0 (15-25, 16-25, 22-25) fashion to close out their home slate.
The Monarchs opened the first set up 7-2 and the second set up 8-3, and the Navy and Gold never saw a lead in either as King's took both sets in decisive fashion. The Colonels came to life in set three, battling neck and neck early with the Monarchs as they found themselves in a seven-all tie. A pair of service aces from
Paul Binner (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock) helped fuel a 5-1 run to give the Colonels a 12-8 advantage. The King's offense jumped to life afterwards, a trio of kills and a pair of service aces pushing them to a 7-2 run and a 15-14 lead.
The Monarchs offense sputtered with errors that helped the Colonels retake a 18-16 edge with a 4-1 run, but the inconsistent Monarchs found their swings again to take a 23-20 lead off the back of a 5-1 sprint. A kill and an ace brought the Colonels within one, but King's finished the set and match with two straight points.
The Colonels honored their seniors
Ethan Speicher (Midlothian, VA/Cosby) and
Everett Fritz (Ringtown, PA/Hazleton Area) tonight. Speicher led the team with a trio of blocks, while Fritz had a pair of kills and a block.
Jackson Shafer (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley) led the way alongside Binner in the Colonels losing effort. Shafer led the team with 13 kills, while Binner led the team in assists (17) and digs (six). Binner and Shafer each had a pair of service aces as did
Lucas Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central).
Joe Herman had four service aces for Kings as well as seven kills, while Jared Piontkowski had a match-high 15 kills.
The Colonels will wrap up their regular season with a tri-match against Eastern and #11 Stevenson at Stevenson, Md. on Saturday. First serve is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. as the Colonels trail the all-time series 4-1 against Eastern and 6-0 against Stevenson.
