DALLAS, PA – The Wilkes University men's volleyball team fell 3-1 (18-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-22) to the Olivet College Comets and 3-0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-21) to the Misericordia University Cougars for a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) match on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Colonels move to 14-8 on the season and 1-4 in MAC play. The Comments move to 7-10 on the season and the Cougars improve to 12-19 overall and 3-2 in conference.
 
Wilkes first took on Olivet College, winning the first set 25-18. The Colonels were able to go on a five-point run which was started by a kill from Jackson Shafer (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley). Wilkes out-killed the Comets in the set 12-9. Shafter led the Colonels in kills with four in the set, followed by Lucas Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) with three. Zach Shay (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) earned 12 assists in the set.
 
Olivet had nine kills in the first set.
 
The Colonels started off the second set with a kill from L. Mages and took a two-point lead, however after the score got tied up for the sixth time, the Comets built a lead with five kills in a row which led them to claim the set 25-20. Wilkes had 11 kills in the set, led by L. Mages, Paul Binner (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock), and Noah Taylor (Lumberton, NJ/Rancocas Valley Regional) each with three. Shay added 10 assists in the set.
 
The Comets had 13 kills in the second set.
 
Even though Wilkes was able to go on a four-point run as well as a five-point run, it was not enough to catch the lead Olivet had built to claim the third set. The Colonels had eight kills in the third set led by Taylor with four and L. Mages with three. Shay had six assists in the set.
 
Olivet had 15 kills in the third set.
 
Wilkes started out the fourth set with a five-point lead over Olivet, however the Comets were able to catch up and take the lead to claim the fourth set over the Colonels. Wilkes had nine kills in the fourth set, led by Taylor with three and Shafer and Binner each with two. Shay added five assists in the fourth set.
 
The Comets had 14 kills in the fourth set.
 
Wilkes had a total of 40 kills in the match, led by Taylor with 12. He was followed by Binner with nine which set a new record for kills in a career. Shay had a total of 34 assists in the match. Taylor had 11 digs in the match followed by Shafer and L. Mages each with nine.
 
Olivet had a total of 51 kills in the match and 51 digs.
 
Binner had the most blocks and aces in the match for the Colonels with six and two, followed by L. Mages and Jacob Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) each with five blocks.
 
The Comets had sevens blocks in the match and five aces.
 
Wilkes then took on Misericordia for a conference match. The Colonels took an early lead after a kill from Taylor, but the Cougars were able to take the lead and claim the set after going on two four-point runs. Wilkes had eight kills in the first set led by Shafer with four. Shay had seven assists in the set.
 
Misericordia had nine kills in the first set.
 
The Colonels earned the first point of the second set after a kill from L. Mages and had the score tied up four times. After Wilkes took the lead three times, Misericordia came back and built a lead to claim the second set. The Colonels had six kills in the set led by Shafer with two. Four other Colonels had kills in the set. Shay added six assists.
 
The Cougars had nine kills in the second set.
 
Wilkes came the closest to claiming a set in the third, after losing it by only four points. The score was tied up 15 times with the Colonels taking the lead five times. Wilkes had 11 kills in the set led by Shafer with four followed by L. Mages, Taylor, and Binner each with two. Shay added 11 assists in the set.
 
Misericordia had 11 kills in the third set.
 
The Colonels had a total of 25 kills in the match led by Shafer with 10. Shay had a total of 24 assists in the match. Taylor had the most digs in the match for Wilkes with 11, followed by Alex Derk (Perkasie, PA/Pennridge) with six and Shay with five.
 
The Cougars had a total of 29 kills in the match and 35 digs.
 
Shay and Binner each had three blocks in the match for Wilkes.
 
Misericordia had four service aces in the match and four blocks.
 
The Wilkes men's volleyball team returns to action on Monday when they travel to Bryn Athyn, Pa. to take on Bryn Athyn College at 7:00 p.m. for a non-conference match.