Wilkes Men's Volleyball Swept by No. 1 Stevens
WILKES-BARRE – Wilkes University men's volleyball team hosted No. 1 nationally ranked Stevens Institute of Technology in Wednesday night Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) competition where the Colonels fell to the Ducks 3-0 in the series. Wilkes dropped three sets to Stevens 15-25, 13-25, 15-25.
Wilkes will fall to 12-6 on the season and 1-3 in the MAC. Stevens, who is nationally ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) are now 18-2 and hold a 2-0 record in the conference.
The first set saw both teams trading points with one another as the Colonels kept in touch with Stevens. Lucas Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) had two kills and Jackson Shafer (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley) earned a service ace to give Wilkes an 8-7 lead. After both teams traded points once again, the Ducks would get 11 straight points as Stevens would get ahead 19-9. Wilkes would try and get back behind three Shafer kills, but the Ducks would push their lead ahead and take the first set 25-15.
The second set would see the Colonels earn the first three points as Noah Taylor (Lumberton, NJ/Rancocas Valley Regional) and Paull Binner had kills while L. Mages earned a service ace. The Ducks would get back on their attacking prowess as they would hold multiple runs and retake the lead over Wilkes. Being down 19-10, the Colonels would get three of the next four points from Shafer and Casey Shipman (Hershey, PA/Hershey) kills to make the game 20.12. Stevens would keep their lead strong and finish the second set with a 25-13 win and take a two-set lead over Wilkes.
The Ducks would get ahead in the third set, earning a 7-3 lead as Koby Sherman and Carver Weirick had kills for Stevens. Wilkes would get three of the next five points from Shafer and Taylor kills while L. Mages and Jacob Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) had a block for the Colonels to be down 9-6. Stevens would earn the next seven points and hold onto the lead to the end of the third set as the Ducks would win 25-15 over Wilkes and get the conference sweep against the Colonels.
Shafer led the Colonels with 11 kills on the night. Shipman had 17 assists and five digs while L. Mages and J. Mages each had two blocks.
The Colonels will have next week off for spring break before they return home to the Marts Center as they host Wells College on Monday, March 13 in non-conference competition.
