GRANTHAM, PA – The Wilkes University men's volleyball team fell 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-19) to the No. 7 Messiah University Falcons on Saturday afternoon in a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) match.
 
The Colonels move to 11-4 on the season and 1-2 in conference play. The Falcons move to 11-2 overall and 1-0 in the MAC.
 
In the first set, Wilkes was able to go on two three-point runs. The Colonels had two kills in the set, both of them from Jackson Shafer (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley). Zach Shay (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) had one assist in the set.
 
The Falcons had 12 kills in the first set.
 
The second set was closer, with Wilkes losing the set by only six points. The Colonels were able to earn five kills in the set, led by Shafer and Lucas Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) each with two, and Paul Binner (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock) with one. Shay added five more assists in the set.
 
Messiah had 16 kills in the second set.
 
The third set was close like the second, with Wilkes losing the set again only by six. The Colonels added seven more kills in the set and Shay was able to add six assists. Binner had the most kills in the set with three, followed by Shafer and Jacob Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) each with two.
 
The Falcons had 11 kills in the third set.
 
The Colonels had a total of 14 kills in the match, led by Shafer with six. He was followed by Binner with four and L. Mages and J. Mages each with two. Shay had a total of 12 assists in the match. Binner had three service aces in the match followed by L. Mages with two and Noah Taylor (Lumberton, NJ/Rancocas Valley Regional) with one. Shay and Binner each had a block in the match. Sam Winter (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon Central) had the most digs in the match for Wilkes with three, and Binner and Taylor each had two.
 
Messiah had a total of 39 kills in the match and 37 assists.
 
The Wilkes men's volleyball team returns to action on Thursday when they host Drew University at 7:00 p.m. for a non-conference match.