Wilkes Men's Volleyball Falls in Season Opening Tri-Match
WILKES-BARRE - The Wilkes men's volleyball team fell in both of their matches on Saturday in a tri-match featuring Eastern University and Elmira College to open their 2025 season.
Game 1 | Wilkes 1, Eastern 3
The Colonels fell to the Eagles in their first match of the day, going 20-25 in set one, 24-26 in set two, winning set three 25-23 and falling in set four 25-10.
Leading the team in kills was Jackson Shafer (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley) with 17 total, followed by Lucas Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) with 10. Arron Ladd (Souderton, PA/Pennridge) led in aces with three while Jacob Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) recorded two. Jacob Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) also tallied the team high in blocks with six, followed by Ladd with three and Shafer with two. First year Joshua Conley (Chalfont, PA/Central Bucks South) had an impressive performance in his first collegiate game, leading the team in assists with 29 total in the match as well as recording 13 digs. Alex Derk (Perkasie, PA/Pennridge) recorded six assists and Derk recorded the team high in digs with 14 followed by Shafer with nine.
Wilkes out performed Eastern in total blocks and Aces with 10 blocks compared to the Eagles six and six aces over Eastern's five. The Colonels and the Eagles were close in points with Wilkes recording 55 and Eastern tallying 56.
Game 2 | Wilkes 1, Elmira 3
The Colonels had a similar result in their second match of the day, this time against the Soaring Eagles. Wilkes dropped the first set 20-25 and the second 22-25 before winning the third set 25-22 and ultimately falling in the fourth set 22-25.
Jackson Shafer (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley) broke the program record in points during this match after recording 16.5 in the match. Shafer now has a total of 926.5 points and counting as the current program high.
Shafer led the team in kills with 12 and aces with three, while Lucas Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) had the team high three blocks. James Brust (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) recorded 26 assists and Derk tallied 11 digs. Lucas Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) also had 10 kills and one ace while Shafer added two blocks, seven digs and one assist.
Wilkes recorded seven blocks over Elmira's two, as well as tallying 36 digs, 30 assists, five aces, and 32 kills as a team to put up a strong performance in their second contest of the season.
The Colonels will be on the road next Saturday against SUNY Potsdam with the match set to begin at 1 p.m.
