WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes women's volleyball team fought to a five-set match against Penn State Berks on Monday night but came just short of victory at the Marts Center.

With the loss, Wilkes falls to 3-12 on the year while Penn State Berks improves to 4-9 on the year.

The Colonels lost the first set in extra points 28-26, trading points back and forth late before the visitors took the set. Wilkes responded in emphatic fashion with an 11-point streak served up by Alexa Cassel (Mount Joy, PA/Lower Dauphin) to win the set 25-12. Cassel had two aces and a kill in the rally.

Penn State Berks took a close third set 25-22 after a 6-2 run across the last 10 points to take back their lead, but once again the Colonels equalized with a fourth set victory 25-20 holding off a late Nittany Lion comeback with kills from Cassel, Hines, and Kendra Kalp (Somerset, PA/Rockwood).

In the deciding set, a 4-0 Berks run to make the score 12-6 was enough to outlast the Colonels 15-10.

Hines led the Wilkes attack with a dominant performance, setting a new single-game career mark for kills with 23, while Alexa Cassel (Mount Joy, PA/Lower Dauphin) dished out 49 assists. Defensively, Annalyse Santowasso (Middlesex, NJ/Rutgers Prep), Ally Sheridan (Hanover Township, PA/Hanover Area), and Kalp shared the team-high in digs with 17 each.

Diana Stoltzfus led Berks with 16 kills, while Tarynn Coldren led the team with 40 assists. Katelyn Williams led the defensive effort with 15 digs.

The Colonels return to action on Wednesday, October 9 as they travel to Marywood for a 6:00 p.m. matchup with the Pacers.