WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Wilkes men's volleyball team dropped both matches of its home tri-match Saturday evening, falling to Kean University and Hartwick College.

With the results, Wilkes moves to 6-9 overall and 0-1 in Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) play. Kean improves to 8-4 overall and 1-0 in conference action, while Hartwick shifts to 3-9 on the season.

Game 1: Kean 3, Wilkes 1
The opening two sets went to Kean by identical 25-21 scores. The Cougars were highly efficient offensively, combining to hit .516 across the first two frames, while Wilkes posted a .209 hitting percentage during that stretch.

Wilkes responded in the third set, racing out to a 13-6 advantage and maintaining control throughout much of the frame. Kean mounted a 6-0 run to trim the deficit to three, but the Colonels held steady to secure their first set win, 25-22. Offensively, Wilkes found its rhythm, hitting .423 with 14 kills while limiting Kean to a .250 on 12 kills.

Wilkes carried early momentum into the fourth set, building a 5-3 lead before Kean responded with a decisive 9-2 run to seize control. The Cougars maintained the advantage the rest of the way, closing out the set 25-18 to secure the 3-1 match victory.

Carter Otto (Mountain View, CA/Mountain View) paced the Colonels' offense with 17 kills as Aidan Hunter (Sinking Spring, PA/Wilson) followed with 10. Joshua Conley (Chalfont, PA/Central Bucks South) led the team in assists with 34, while Alex Derk (Perkasie, PA/Pennridge) and Sam Winter (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon Central) anchored the back row with 11 digs respectively.

The Cougar's offense was led by Chris Mitchell with 24 kills while David Flores had a team-high 40 assists and Tyler Quinn recorded 14 digs.

Game 2: Hartwick 3, Wilkes 2  
In the final match of the day, Wilkes dropped the opening two sets to Hartwick by scores of 25-20 and 25-22. Over those frames, the Hawks were highly efficient offensively, combining for a .403 hitting percentage, while the Colonels struggled to find their rhythm and posted a -.020 clip.

Refusing to go quietly, the Colonels found their rhythm in the third and fourth sets, claiming them 25-21 and 25-11, respectively. Wilkes' offense came alive, hitting .324 in the third and .355 in the fourth while combining for 28 kills across the two frames to force a decisive fifth set. 

Both teams exchanged points through the opening 13 rallies of the decisive set, but it was the Hawks who capitalized late, scoring the final two points to claim the set 15-13 and secure the match victory.

Aaron Ladd (Souderton, PA/Pennridge) and Hunter led the Colonels' attack with 12 kills apiece, while Johnnathan Rocha (Wilkes Barre, PA/Holy Redeemer) followed closely with 10. Conley directed the offense with a team-high 24 assists, and Winter anchored the back row with a season-best 18 digs.

Anthony Ruggiero led Hartwick's offense with 16 kills while Nate Roorbach led the passing game with 37 assists and 16 digs.

The Colonels return to the Marts Center for a match up against Neumann University on Wednesday, February 18 at 7:00 p.m.