Wilkes Men's Volleyball Opens Season With Sweep Over Mount Saint Vincent
RIVERDALE, NY – The Wilkes University men's volleyball team began their 2023 season campaign with a sweep of the College of Mount Saint Vincent 3-0. The Colonels earned three victories 25-13, 25-16, 25-18.
Wilkes opens their season 1-0 while Mount Saint Vincent drops their home opener and is 0-1 to begin the year.
The first set saw both teams began to trade points from service errors and kills that would lead to a 5-5 tie in the set. Wilkes would begin to get their momentum to start the season, earning seven of the next eight points as Paul Binner (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock), Lucas Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central), and Jackson Shafer (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley) would all get a kill during that run while Binner and Shafer added a block, forcing the Dolphins to call a timeout. After having a service error, the Colonels would continue their success as they capitalized on Mount Saint Vincent's two attack errors and a bad set as Binner, L. Mages, and Shafer would get kills during that run. Zach Shay (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) would join in on the points as he made a kill of his own to eventually help Wilkes get a 25-13 win in the first set. Mount Saint Vincent's nine of their 13 points were earned from errors by the Colonels.
The second set would see Mount Saint Vincent capitalizing on the mistakes from the Colonels, as 12 of the Dolphins' 16 points from this set were errors. Mount Saint Vincent would get a 4-1 lead, but Wilkes would slowly make their way back into the matchup. A Noah Taylor (Lumberton, NJ/Rancocas Valley Regional) kill and block alongside Binner would keep Wilkes at a one-point difference. Each team would have their own errors before Wilkes would get their footing, getting three straight kills from Binner and Shafer as the Colonels would regain the lead. After trading points back and forth, Mount Saint Vincent would see Kyle Thompson and Tristen Hood get their own kills and help the Dolphins retake the lead 16-14. Wilkes would go on a 11-point run, with a Jacob Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) kill, blocks from Binner and Taylor, and error points to give them the second set 25-14.
The third set would see Mount Saint Vincent take the first two points with an Olatomiwa Ibitayo kill and error, but Wilkes would score the next two off an attack error and a Shay kill. After two more attack error points for the Colonels, they would get three straight kills from J. Mages, Logan Evanosky (Dallas, PA/Dallas), and Casey Shipman (Hershey, PA/Hershey) to hold a 7-3 lead. The Dolphins would score three of the next four points to cut the Colonel lead to two, but they would score two more points off an attack error and a J. Mages service ace. Both teams would continue to trade points, with Mount Saint Vincent eventually scoring five of six points and taking the lead 15-14. Wilkes would go on an 11-3 run, earning kills from Jacob Haller (Birdsboro, PA/Exeter Township) and Binner, a service ace from Shipman, and errors from the Dolphins as the Colonels would take the third set 25-14 and the series, earning their first victory of the season.
Binner led the Colonels in kills with 11 on the night, adding five blocks and two assists as well. Shafer followed behind with seven kills, tying the team lead with six digs with Shipman while having two blocks in the matchup. Shay had 25 assists to start the season off, getting four kills alongside J. Mages and Taylor.
The Colonels will have their first home contest of the season and tri-match series this Saturday, January 21 as they host Lehman College at 11:00 a.m. followed by Purchase College at 3:00 p.m. with both contests inside the Marts Center.
