BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Wilkes men's volleyball team traveled to face Buffalo State as a part of a three-game weekend in upstate New York, but fell to the Bengals in straight sets 20-25, 18-25, 18-25.

Wilkes falls to 7-14 overall, while Buffalo State improves to 9-9 on the year.

Despite two long runs by the hosts, the Colonels stayed with the Bengals through the first set. But with the score 15-16, Buffalo State put together a five-point run to take a 15-21 lead and eventually the first set by a score of 20-25.

Buffalo State carried that momentum into the second set to take an early 3-8 lead. Wilkes closed the gap to one point with a 6-2 run to make it a 9-10 set, then went on a late four-point run to close the gap again to 17-20, helped by two kills from Jacob Ruiz (Long Pond, PA/Pocono Mtn West). Unfortunately, the Bengals scored five of the set's last six points to take their second set, 18-25.

In the third set, the Bengals built a double-digit lead to make the score 23-11, but a 7-1 Colonel run wasn't enough to bring them back, falling again by a score of 18-25.

Jackson Shafer (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley) and Lucas Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) shared a team-high six kills playing in the latter's hometown, while James Brust (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) led the team with 12 assists. Sam Winter (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon Central) led the defense with seven digs.

DeAngelo D'Aloise led the Bengals with 13 kills, while Jackson Stang dished out 21 assists. Alex Vega led the team with 13 digs.

The Colonels will be back in action tomorrow as they compete in a tri-match against Hilbert College and SUNY Pottsdam. The team's first game against Hilbert is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.