ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, NY – The Wilkes University men's volleyball team swept Mount Aloysius College 3-0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-19) and Bard College 3-0 (26-24, 25-15, 25-20) during a non-conference tri-match hosted by Bard on Sunday afternoon.
 
The Colonels record improves to 5-1 overall, Mount Aloysius moves to 1-3 overall, and Bard falls to 1-5 overall.
 
The Colonels first faced Mount Aloysius. During the first set, Wilkes first took the lead when they went on a five-point run kicked off by a kill from Lucas Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central). The Colonels then went on to have two four-point runs, both of which were started by kills from Jacob Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central). Wilkes had ten kills in the first set, and setter Zach Shay (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) had eight assists.
 
In the second set, the Colonels took the lead from the beginning and maintained it the whole set. Wilkes had a four-point run, which was started by a kill from Shay. Wilkes had 12 kills in the second set, and Shay had seven assists.
 
The third set was a little closer with Wilkes claiming the set 25-19. The Colonels had a five-point run and a four-point run which set them in motion to hold the lead and win their third set. Wilkes had nine kills in the set and Shay added six assists.
 
Paul Binner (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock) led the Colonels in kills with nine, followed by L. Mages, J. Mages, and Jackson Shafer (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley) who each had six. Binner also led Wilkes in blocks in the match having four, followed by L. Mages with three and Shay, J. Mages, and Shafer with one. Shay had the most assists in the match for the Colonels with 21, followed by J. Mages and L. Mages who each had one. Shay also led Wilkes in digs with seven followed by Binner with six and J. Mages with four.
 
The first set against Bard was close, with the Colonels winning the set 26-24. Wilkes started the set with the lead, but soon after, the Raptors found themselves leading 12-9. The Colonels were able to catch up and break the tie and win the set with a kill from Binner. Wilkes had 14 kills in the first set, and Shay had 11 assists.
 
In the second set, Wilkes had a bit more breathing room, claiming their second set 25-15. After the first point, the Colonels took the lead and rode it all the way to the end. Wilkes had a six-point run, started by a kill from L. Mages. The Colonels had a total of ten kills in the second set, and Shay added eight assists.
 
The Raptors started out with the lead in the third set, but service ace from J. Mages was enough to break the tie and carry the Colonels to a 25-20 win of the set. Wilkes had two four-point runs in the third set and had a total of 16 kills. Shay added ten more assists in the set.
 
Shafer had the most kills in the match for the Colonels with ten. He was followed by Binner with nine and J. Mages and Noah Taylor (Lumberton, NJ/Rancocas Valley Regional) who each had seven. Shay led the way in assists for Wilkes with 31, followed by Alex Derk (Perkasie, PA/Pennridge) with three and L. Mages and J. Mages each with one. Derk had the most digs in the match for the Colonels with nine, followed by Shay with eight and Taylor with five. Binner and J. Mages each had two blocks in the match for Wilkes.
 
The Wilkes men's volleyball team returns to action on Thursday when they travel to Immaculata, Pa. to take on Immaculata University at 7:00 p.m. in a non-conference match.