Shay Sets Single Season Assists Record; Wilkes Men's Volleyball Earns Sweep Over Bryn Athyn
BRYN ATHYN, PA – Zach Shay (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) set the single season assists record in program history as the Wilkes University men's volleyball team went on the road and earned the sweep over Bryn Athyn College in non-conference competition in Monday night action. Wilkes earned victories in three sets 25-8, 25-14, and 25-19.
The Colonels continue their best season as they improve 15-8 on the year. The Lions fall to 2-11 on the year. Wilkes won their second contest against Bryn Athyn as they swept them on February 12 inside the Marts Center.
The first set saw the Colonels jump out to a 7-1 lead over the Lions with Lucas Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central), Noah Taylor (Lumberton, NJ/Rancocas Valley Regional), and Paul Binner (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock) earning kills in that stretch. After trading points in short stretches, Wilkes would hold onto the advantage in the first set as they would go on a 14-3 run at the end to take the first set 25-8. Jackson Shafer (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley) would get five of the Colonels six straight points off service aces as L. Mages and Jacob Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) had kills near the end of the set.
Wilkes would have a .273 hitting percentage in the first set with nine kills.
The second set would see both trading points and the lead as Wilkes would hold a 7-5 lead. The Colonels would continue their attack as Shafer, Jacob Haller (Birdsboro, PA/Exeter Township), and logan Evanosky would get kills as Wilkes would go up 13-7. The Lions would get short runs, but Shafer and J. Mages would help get points for Wilkes as they would outpace Bryn Athyn 12-7 and finish the second set 25-14, giving the Colonels a 2-0 lead.
Wilkes would have a .611 hitting percentage in that set, earning 12 kills.
The third set would see Wilkes earn four of the first five points as a Haller kill and J. Mages service ace would give them that 4-1 lead. The Lions would tie the game at 5-5 as they capitalized on a couple Colonel mistakes, with Jaryn McCann and Ryan Gihvan would get a block during that stretch. After the Lions would take the lead, Wilkes would go on two three-point runs to get them up 12-8.
The Lions would get close to two points, but Wilkes would get seven straight points as Binner and Evanosky would get kills and a block to get the Colonels up 20-11. The Lions would begin to cut Wilkes lead, getting as close as five points, but Shay and Taylor would get two of the last three points in the set to give the Colonels a 25-19 win and earn the sweep over Bryn Athyn.
The Colonels would finish the last set with .100 hitting percentage as they had 10 kills in the third set. WIlkes would finish with a .286 hitting percentage, recording 31 kills on the night.
Zach Shay (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) would have 25 assists in the contest, breaking the school record with assists in a single season with 618 this year. He breaks Daniel Sales record when that was set in 2017 with 617 assists that year. Shafer and Evanosky both had seven kills on the night with Binner and J. Mages tying for third on the team with four kills. Shafer also had five service aces while Binner recorded four of his own. Binner led the team with four blocks with Shay and L. Mages having two apiece.
Wilkes will continue their road stretch as they face Stevenson University in Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) action this Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.
