WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes men's volleyball team remained undefeated at the Marts Center this season as they bested both Widener and Wells College in Saturday afternoon's tri-match.

The Colonels swept Widener 3-0 to open the day and finished it with a tough 3-1 win over Wells to move to 9-2 overall on the year, the best start to a season in program history.

Wilkes defeated Widener in the day's first match by scores of 25-22, 25-17, and 25-22. With the Colonels down 20-18 in the first set, a kill and two service aces by Jackson Shafer (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley) kick-started a 7-2 run that allowed the Colonels to take the first set.

Three early 3-0 runs by Wilkes in the second set allowed them to stretch a 10-4 lead that they wouldn't relinquish, capping the set off with another 7-2 run to take a 2-0 lead. With the score tied 10-10 in the third set, the Colonels opened up a 15-10 lead with five consecutive points and held off a late comeback by the Pride thanks to kills by Noah Taylor (Lumberton, NJ/Rancocas Valley Regional), Lucas Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) and Shafer to finish the straight-set victory.

Shafer led the Colonels with 22 kills, tying a career-best that he set against the Pride last season. Zack Shay led the team in assists and digs with 35 and five respectively. Senior Paul Binner (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock) recorded five blocks in the game, setting a new program record for career blocks previously held by Ethan Speicher (197).

The Colonels took down Wells College in the final game of the day by scores of 25-22, 22-25, 25-22, and 25-21. Down 19-18 in the first set, three attack errors by the Express and a bad set gave Wilkes a 4-0 run to take the lead 22-19, and L. Mages finished off the set with two kills to make it a 1-0 game.

After Wells took the second set, they opened the third with a 5-3 lead. A pair of blocks by the Mages brothers highlighted a 6-0 run that gave the Colonels a 9-5 lead. Wells continued to hang with Wilkes through the set, but a service error and kills from Shay, Binner, and L. Mages finished off the set for the Colonels, outscoring the Express 4-2 in the final six points to take a 2-1 lead.

Deadlocked at 14 in the final set, a kill by James Brust (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) set in motion an 8-1 run that gave the Colonels a 22-15 lead. Wells immediately responded with a 4-0 run to close the gap, but after trading points back and forth it was Taylor who got the game-winning kill to give Wilkes the sweep, now 4-0 when playing at the Marts Center this season.

L. Mages led the Colonels with 12 kills, followed closely by Binner and Taylor with 11. Shay led with 17 assists while Alex Derk (Perkasie, PA/Pennridge) led on the defensive end with 16 digs. Binner added five more blocks in this game, pushing his career total to over 200.

The Colonels will test that home court record against Arcadia University, welcoming the Knights to the Marts Center for their next match on Tuesday, February 13 at 7:00 p.m.