Elizabethtown Sweeps Wilkes Men's Volleyball
ELIZABETHTOWN, PA – The Wilkes University men's volleyball team traveled on the road where they fell to Elizabethtown College 3-0 in non-conference action on Tuesday night inside Thompson Gymnasium. The Colonels lost in three sets 25-15, 25-22, 25-20.
The Colonels drop their first game of the year as they go 3-1 on the season while the Blue Jays are now 2-1 to start the year.
The first set began with Elizabethtown taking control, earning eight of the first 11 points in the game as Logan Smith and Steve Swain both earned kills for the Blue Jays during that run. Wilkes would get points off of Paul Binner (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock) and Lucas Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) kills, but Elizabethtown would not falter as they would only allow three straight points for the Colonels in that first set. Eventually, Smith and Tony Camillo would get a block to finish the first set with a 25-15 victory.
The second set would see Elizabethtown go out on an early lead once again, but the Colonels would see blocks from Jacob Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) and Jackson Shafer (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley) while Noah Taylor (Lumberton, NJ/Rancocas Valley Regional) and J. Mages earned kills to put Wilkes up 8-5. Both teams would continue to trade points back-and-forth, as both teams saw plays from their players. The Blue Jays had back-to-back service aces from Nick Chapman while Shafer, Taylor, and Sam Winter (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon Central) added kills during the stretch, eventually seeing the game tied at 15-15. After a J. Mages kill and service ace, Elizabethtown would go on a 9-3 run to finish the second set with a 25-22 win.
The third set would continue the back-and-forth beginnings both teams would start with, as Binner and Taylor would earn kills while Shafer had a solo block to keep the game tied with the Blue Jays 4-4. Both teams would go on three-point runs, keeping the game tied to 11-11 before Elizabethtown would get the advantage and keep the point total lead over Wilkes down the stretch. With the Blue Jays being up 18-14, the Colonels would get within two points as they would benefit from mistakes on Elizabethtown while getting a L. Mages kill to make the game 20-18. Elizabethtown would earn five of the last seven points of the set, winning 25-20 and earning the sweep over Wilkes.
Shafer led the Colonels with nine kills on the night, earning two blocks and two service aces in the contest. Binner followed behind with six kills, while Taylor and L. Mages had five and four kills respectively. Zach Shay (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) had 22 assists and six digs, leading Wilkes in both categories. Winter and L. Mages both tied with five digs.
The Colonels will continue their road game stretch as they compete in a tri-match on Sunday, January 29 when they face Mount Aloysius College at 1:00 p.m. and host Bard College at 3:00 p.m. in non-conference competition.
