WILKES-BARRE – In a tightly contested match in all but one set, visiting FDU-Florham escaped with a 3-2 win over host Wilkes University Tuesday in a MAC Freedom matchup at the Marts Center.
 
Wilkes took the first set in convincing fashion 25-14 before FDU-Florham responded with a 25-21 win in set two. The Colonels took back the lead at 2-1 with a 25-20 win in set three followed by a 26-24 victory by the Devils in the fourth set to force the deciding fifth. FDU-Florham then went on to clinch the match with a 15-11 victory in the final set.
 
Wilkes falls to 1-5 overall and 0-2 in MAC Freedom play while FDU-Florham improves to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in league matches.
 
The Colonels cruised through the first set leading by as many as ten points at 13-3 and later at 22-12 before taking the set 25-14. Wilkes led 8-4 before FDU-Florham used a 4-0 run to tie the set at 8. The Devils used another late rally this time a 6-0 run to take a 20-18 lead before two kills and a Wilkes attack error tied the match at 1-1.
 
Wilkes regained momentum in the third set as kills from Alexa Cassel (Mount Joy, PA/Lower Dauphin), Sierra Hines (Wilkes-Barre, PA/Holy Redeemer) and Hope Ousey (Exton, PA/Henderson) put the Colonels ahead 19-11 on way to a 25-20 win to take back the advantage up two sets to one.
 
The fourth set went back and forth with each team tying or taking a one point advantage throughout before FDU-Florham edged out a 24-22 lead. An Ousey kill and Devils attack error tied the match at 24 before back-to-back Colonel attack errors gave the Devils the set and tied the match at 2-2.
 
From there FDU-Florham took a 13-9 lead in the fifth set and used back-to-back kills for the final two points to secure the road conference victory.
 
The loss overshadowed several career nights for Wilkes including Alexis Reedy (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra Area) who finished with a career-best 20 kills. Reedy added a career-high 19 digs for her seventh career double-double. Ousey followed with a career-high 18 kills while Nicole Fitzpatrick (New Hampton, NY/Minisink Valley) finished with a career-best nine kills and 23 digs. Cassel continued the career-high trend with 49 assists while Ali Yordy (Fairfield, PA/Fairfield Area) notched her season-best of 24 digs in the match.
 
FDU-Florham saw four players reach double figure kills led by Adrienne DeFuria's 16 kills and 19 digs.
 
Wilkes remains home Thursday with a non-conference match against Penn State Altoona starting at 7:00 p.m.