CHESTER, Pa. - The Wilkes University men's volleyball hit the road for a matchup with Widener University, but ultimately lost to the Pride 3-0 Thursday night by set scores of 25-22, 27-25, and 25-23.

Wilkes drops to 2-5 with the loss, while Widener improves to 3-3 on the season.

Widener scored the first three points of the match thanks to an Anioma Njokanma and back-to-back attack errors by Wilkes. That forced the Colonels to play catch-up for most of the first set, but they always stayed within striking distance as it was 18-16 Pride late in the set. 

The Colonels then scored four points in a row with a Carter Otto (Mountain View, CA/Mountain View) kill, Joshua Conley (Chalfont, PA/Central Bucks South) service ace, and two Widener errors to take their first lead. However, with Wilkes leading 22-21, Widener scored the last four points to steal set one and take a 1-0 lead.

Set two was more of the same with both sides going back-and-forth throughout. There were 16 ties and eight lead changes, but late in the set the Pride led 22-20 after a Wilkes timeout. After they regrouped, the Colonels scored four of the next six points to force extra points. 

The Colonels reached set point after a Pride setting error, but the Widener responded with a Quinby Dahl kill, a service ace, and benefited from a Wilkes attack error to win set two 27-25.

Now leading 2-0, Widener immediately jumped out to a commanding 6-0 lead early in set three. However, the Colonels went on a 9-3 run to tie the match behind steady play from Otto, Aiden Amon (Pittstown, NJ/North Hunterdon), and Logan Maha (Sayville, NY/Sayville).

Wilkes eventually took a 14-13 lead after a Widener attack error, but three straight attack errors by the Colonels put the Pride back on top 16-14. Despite a late rally led by Maha and Aidan Hunter (Sinking Spring, PA/Wilson), Widener held on to win set three 25-23 to complete the sweep.

Otto led the team in kills (13) and digs (5), while Aidan Hunter (Sinking Spring, PA/Wilson) was second on the team with eight kills. Meanwhile, Conley led Wilkes in assists with 23 and also finished with four digs. For Widener, Stephen Marquis finished with a team-leading nine kills and four digs, and Jason Sandberg ended the match with 27 assists.

In terms of team statistics, Wilkes finished with 30 kills, 22 attack errors, seven service aces, and a hit percentage of .099%.

The Colonels stay on the road for their next matches on Saturday, Jan. 31 at John Jay College. They'll take on John Joy at 11 a.m. and then go against Manhattanville University at 1 p.m.