WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's volleyball team returned from their spring break with a 3-1 non-conference victory over Wells College in Monday night competition inside the Marts Center. The Colonels went in four sets for the victory, 25-14, 25-12, 22-25, 25-11.
 
Wilkes would continue their historic season as they improve to 13-6 on the season while Wells falls to 3-13 on the year.
 
The first set would start off strong for Wilkes as they would jump out to a 6-2 lead with Paul Binner (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock) getting three of his team leading 10 kills early on in the contest. The Express would not go away quickly as they would keep getting close to the Wilkes lead multiple times, as they would only trail by two with the Colonels leading 11-9. Wilkes would go on a 14-5 run as Binner, Lucas Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central), Jackon Shafer, Noah Taylor (Lumberton, NJ/Rancocas Valley Regional) and Zach Shay (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) would all get kills as they would take the first set 25-14.
 
Wilkes had a .636 killing percentage in the first set while Wells only had a .176 hitting percentage.
 
The second set saw Wilkes have another strong start, going out to a 9-4 lead with a Shay kill and service ace. The Colonels would continue their attack, earning seven straight points and holding a 22-7 lead over Wells. The Express would get the next five points, but a Shafer kill along with a Matthew Molnar (South Abington Township, PA/Abington Heights) service ace would earn the Colonels a 25-12 win in the second set and put them up 2-0 in the series.'
 
Wilkes would finish the second set with a .263 hitting percentage.
 
The third set would see a back-and-forth between the two teams, with the game tied at 5-5. Wilkes would earn five of the next six points off of a Jacob Haller (Birdsboro, PA/Exeter Township), Shafer, and Molnar kill to get the Colonels ahead 10-6. Wells would get on an 11-1 run over Wilkes, putting them ahead 17-11. Wilkes would fight their way back all the way to make it a one-point set, but the Express would finish strong as they would take the third set 25-22 and trail in the series 2-1 heading into the fourth set.
 
Wilkes would lead with a .179 hitting percentage in the third set while Wells had a .138 hitting percentage.
 
The fourth set continued with a back-and-forth contest, as they were tied 6-6. The Colonels would get the next seven points as L. Mages had four kills for Wilkes as they took the lead at 13-6. They would continue to add to their lead, as they would get ahead 17-8 before the Express would get three points off services to make it 17-11. Shay, L. Mages, Taylor, and Shafer all earned kills as the Colonels would get the last eight points of the set, securing a 25-11 victory and taking the series 3-1 on Monday night.
 
The Colonels would finish the fourth set with a .636 hitting percentage, making their total hitting percentage in the match at .418. Wells would finish the series with a .072 hitting percentage in four sets.
 
Binner would lead the team with 10 kills and three blocks on the night. Shafer and L. Mages would follow behind with nine kills while Taylor had eight. Shafer also had four service aces in the game while tying second on the team with two blocks alongside Shay. Shay also had 45 assists on the night.
 
The Colonels will go on the road this Thursday as they face Neumann University on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. in non-conference action.