WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes men's volleyball team earned a clean sweep against Lehman College 3-0 (25-12, 25-12, 25-19) and Purchase College 3-0 (25-16, 25-12, 25-20) in their non-conference home opening tri-match on Saturday afternoon at the Marts Center.
 
The Colonels' record improves to 3-0 overall following their tri-match sweep. Lehman College moves to 1-1 on the season, and Purchase College falls to 0-2 overall.
 
Wilkes started the day against Lehman college, where a kill by Jackson Shafer (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley) set off a six point run to lift the Colonels over Lehman 25-12 in the first set. Shafer led Wilkes in kills in the first set with six, followed by Jacob Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) who had three.
 
The second set was similar to the first, with the Colonels winning 25-12 again after another six-point run, which was kicked off with a kill by Shafer. Again, he led the Colonels in kills in the second set with five, followed by Mages who had four, and Lucas Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) who had one.
 
The third set was more evenly matched, with the Colonels winning 25-19. Wilkes was able to go on a four point run, started by a kill from Shafer. For the third set in a row, Shafer led the Colonels in kills with five, followed by L. Mages and J. Mages who each had two.
 
Shafer led the Colonels for kills in the match, earning a career high of 16. He was followed by J. Mages with nine kills, and Paul Binner (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock) who had five. Zach Shay (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) had 24 assists in the match for the Colonels, and Casey Shipman (Hershey, PA/Hershey) had four. Noah Taylor (Lumberton, NJ/Rancocas Valley Regional) and Binner also got on the board in assists, each of them earning two. Binner had the most blocks in the match for Wilkes with five, followed by J. Mages with four, and Shafer with three. Sam Winter (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon Central) had eight digs in the match for Wilkes, followed by Shay and Shafer who each had five, and Adan Sandoval (Lebanon, PA/Lebanon), Binner, and J.Mages who each had four.
 
The first set against Purchase was a slow start for the Colonels, but Shafer's six kills helped bring Wilkes over Purchase 25-16. J. Mages was next up in kills for the Colonels with three in the set. L. Mages, Binner, and Taylor each had two in the set. Shay ended the first set with 13 assists, and Winter tallied one.
 
Wilkes picked it up in the second set, claiming it 25-12. The Colonels were able to go on two four-point runs. The first point run kicked off with a kill from Shipman, and the second run was started by a kill from Shafer. Shafer had five kills in the second set for Wilkes, followed by Shipman with four. Shay added nine assists in the second set and Winter added one.
 
The Colonels sealed the deal in the third set, coming out with a 25-20 win. Logan Evanosky (Dallas, PA/Dallas) and Binner led Wilkes in kills, each of them with four. They were followed by Matthew Molnar (South Abington Township, PA/Abington Heights), Shipman, and L. Mages who each had two. Shay had a total of 12 assists in the last set.
 
Shafer had the most kills for the Colonels in the match, totaling 11. Following behind him was Shipman and Binner each with six, and L. Mages and Evanosky each with five. Shay had a total of 35 assists in the match, which put him over 1,000 assists in his career. Molnar had the only block of the match for Wilkes. Shay had nine digs in the match, followed by Winter with five and Shipman who had four.
 
The Wilkes men's volleyball team will return to the court on Tuesday night when they head to Elizabethtown, Pa. for a non-conference matchup against Elizabethtown College at 7:00 p.m.