ELMIRA, N.Y. – The Wilkes men's volleyball team finished their season on Saturday afternoon, splitting a tri-match with Elmira College and No.6 ranked Juniata College hosted by the Soaring Eagles. Wilkes defeated the Soaring Eagles in five sets but were swept by Juniata in the second match.

The Colonels finished the day and the season with a new program-best overall record of 20-9.

Wilkes opened the day against Elmira, besting the hosts 25-22, 23-25, 26-24, 20-25, 17-15. Down 13-14 in the first set, the Colonels fired off a 4-0 run to tie and take the lead 17-14 with two points off of blocks by Paul Binner (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock). Elmira answered with a 3-0 swing to equalize again, but Wilkes took control of the set with two more Binner blocks and a service error to make it a 20-17 contest. The teams traded points back and forth, but three Jackson Shafer (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley) kills put away the first set in favor of Wilkes 25-22.

Tied at six in the second set, the Soaring Eagles outscored the Colonels 5-1 to take a 7-11 lead. Wilkes responded with a 4-0 run to tie the game at 11, but Elmira would pull away once again. Wilkes managed to stick with the Eagles through every run, but with the score 22-23 the Eagles took the second set 23-25.

The hosts took that momentum with them into the third set, storming out to a 4-12 lead. The Colonels were unphased by the gap, and slowly chipped away at the lead until they were only down five at 15-20. Then, Wilkes exploded on a 6-0 run to take the lead, headed by two kills and block from Shafer. They then matched Elmira point for point to take a 24-23 lead, but a kill from Gabriel Staron forced extra points. A kill and an ace by Shafer quickly put the set to bed, as the Colonels won 26-24.

Elmira held the lead late in a close fourth set, finishing off a 5-0 run to make it a 21-17 game, and outscored the Colonels 4-3 to force a decisive fifth set.

The final frame started with a back-and-forth duel, tied a third of the way through at five. Wilkes- opened the set up with a 3-0 run, but the Soaring Eagles picked up two straight points to make it 8-7. Elmira took the lead after outscoring the Colonels 7-4 to make it an 11-14 game, putting the Colonels on the edge of defeat. They would not be denied, scoring three straight on an attack error, a kill by Zach Shay (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom), and an ace by Shafer to force extra points, 15-14. Elmira equalized but were finished off by the Colonels 17-15 to win the game 3-2.

Shafer led the Colonels with 25 kills, while Shay led with 44 assists. Binner finished the match with eight blocks on top of 13 kills, and Alex Derk (Perkasie, PA/Pennridge) led the defensive efforts with 13 digs.

Wilkes' seven-match win streak came to an end at the hands of No. 6 ranked Juniata, falling in straight sets 18-25, 17-25, and 14-25.

Wilkes held an early 4-3 lead over the Eagles, but Juniata quickly took over on a 4-11 scoring run that saw them take an 8-14 lead. With the score 14-23, Wilkes put together a 3-0 run with kills from Shay and Noah Taylor (Lumberton, NJ/Rancocas Valley Regional), but it wasn't enough to stop the Eagles from taking the first set 18-25.

The Colonels started the second set up 5-2 on Juniata with a Lucas Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) kill and multiple Eagle errors, but Juniata found their stride and took the second set 17-25.

Juniata took a commanding 10-3 lead early in the third set and didn't look back en route to the sweep.

Shafer led the Colonel attack with seven kills, while Shay added 11 assists. Shafer, Taylor, and Derk all shared the defensive duties, leading the team with three kills each.