ASTON, PA – The Wilkes University men's volleyball team snapped a three-match losing skid as the Colonels cruised to a 3-0 sweep at Neumann University Tuesday night at the Mirenda Center.
 
Wilkes improved to 5-10 overall following the road win while Neumann fell to 2-4 overall on the season.
 
Wilkes took the match by scores of 25-12, 25-17 and 26-24.
 
The Colonels jumped out to a six point lead in the first set and never looked back thanks to six of his team-high nine kills from Jackson Shafer (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley). Jacob Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) provided a service ace and Shafer finished off the set win with a kill to give Wilkes a 1-0 lead.
 
In the second set, four straight attack errors by Neumann followed a Shafer ace to put Wilkes ahead by seven. Neumann battled back to cut the lead to two, but the Colonels responded with a kill by Jacob Ruiz (Long Pond, PA/Pocono Mtn West) and back-to-back kills from Lucas Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) to finish off the eight-point set win.
 
The teams traded scores for most of the third set before Neumann took a two point lead late. Wilkes responded with a Ruiz kill before an ace that gave the Colonels a 25-24 advantage. Johnnathan Rocha (Wilkes Barre, PA/Holy Redeemer) finished off the set with a kill on the following serve to seal the sweep for the Colonels.
 
L. Mages followed Shafer with five kills while Ruiz finished with four kills and three digs. Sam Winter (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon Central) posted a team-best 10 digs while Joshua Conley (Chalfont, PA/Central Bucks South) paced the passing game with a match-high 29 assists.
 
Wilkes takes to the road Saturday with its second match in Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) play at Marymount University starting at 11:00 a.m.