WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes men's volleyball remain undefeated at the Marts Center following a tri-match sweep of Lehman College and Mount Aloysius College on Saturday afternoon.

The Colonels picked up two decisive victories on the day, defeating Lehman in the first match of the day 3-0, and finished with another 3-0 decision against the Mounties. The victories move the team to 12-3 on the year, and a pristine 7-0 record at home.

Wilkes struck down the Lightning in the first match of the day by scores of 25-16, 25-19, and 25-20. The Colonels opened the first set hot with a 5-2 lead thanks to kills from Aidan Hunter (Sinking Spring, PA/Wilson), Paul Binner (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock), and Sam Winter (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon Central). With the score 11-8 in favor of the Colonels, they put together a six-point run to open a 17-8 lead orchestrated by two blocks from Jacob Haller (Birdsboro, PA/Exeter Township) and Binner, as well as two kills from the senior middle. With the help of another late 4-0 run, the Colonels took the first set 25-16.

Lehman responded to that set loss with a 5-1 run to open the second set, but the Colonels stormed back with a 9-4 run to take a 10-9 lead. Lehman kept the middle of the set close as the teams found themselves deadlocked at 17, but a 5-0 Colonel run allowed the home team to take the second set. James Brust (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) assisted on kills in three of the points during the run.

The Colonels opened the third set with a small 7-4 advantage, but Lehman responded with two quick points to make it a 7-6 contest. Wilkes then went on to outscore the Lightning 15-7 to take a massive 22-13 lead, but Lehman scored six of the next seven points to make it a 23-19 set. The gap was too great, however, and the Colonels secured the third set and the victory thanks to a Hunter kill.

Hunter led the team offensively and defensively with 17 kills and 12 digs. Brust led the team in assists with 40, while Binner put up six blocks.

Ray Rodriguez and Alain Esteva led Lehman with five kills each, while Chris Mata led the team with nine assists. Esteva also led the team with eight digs.

Wilkes recorded another straight-set victory over Mount Aloysius in the day's final match by scores of 25-18, 25-18, and 25-15. Down 11-9 in the first set, the Colonel offense struck for a 12-2 run to take a commanding 21-13 lead en route to the set victory. Jackson Shafer (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley) had three kills in the run, while Binner put up two service aces, a block, and a kill.

Another massive mid-set run gave the Colonels the second set, growing a 14-12 lead to 21-12 with two kills and an ace from Shafer and two kills from Hunter. Wilkes put an exclamation point on the match in the third set, putting away the Mounties with a 5-0 run with two more kills from Hunter and three errors by Mount Aloysius.

Hunter once again led the team with 13 kills in this match, followed by Shafer with 10.  Zach Shay (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) led the match with 28 assists and 10 digs, while Binner added five more blocks to finish the day with double-digit defending.

Andrew Wlodarczyk led the Mounties with 11 kills, Evan Schmidt led in assists with 18, and Matthew Franz led in digs with eight.

The Colonels hit the road for their next contest, traveling to Madison, N.J. on Wednesday, February 28 to take on Drew University at 7:00 p.m.