Wilkes Men's Volleyball Falls to Drew in Five Sets
WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's volleyball team were bested by CVC opponent Drew University at the Marts Center Wednesday night, falling in five sets 25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 25-17, 15-10.
Wilkes falls to 10-12 overall and 0-4 in CVC play, while Drew improves to 10-11 with a 1-1 record against conference opponents.
In a back-and-forth first set, the Colonels turned a 23-22 deficit into a set victory thanks to three straight points with kills from
Aidan Hunter (Sinking Spring, PA/Wilson) and
Carter Otto (Mountain View, CA/Mountain View).
After a five-point run by the Rangers put the visitors ahead 19-15 in the second set, the Colonels fired back with four unanswered on three Drew errors and a
Logan Maha (Sayville, NY/Sayville) ace to tie the game at 19. The Colonels then scored three of the next four points to take a 22-20 lead, finishing the set off with another kill from Hunter to take a 2-0 lead.
Drew responded by winning the third set, taking a 13-9 lead thanks to six unanswered points and eventually the set 25-23. The fourth set was much the same, turning a 9-8 Colonel lead into a 16-9 Ranger advantage with an eight-point run to eventually take the set 25-17.
In the fifth, the Colonels went down fighting with a five-point run to cut the Drew lead to 13-9 with kills by Otto and
Joshua Conley (Chalfont, PA/Central Bucks South), but it was too much for Wilkes to overcome as the visitors took the set and match 15-10.
Otto led all players with 19 kills on the day, with Conley serving up 47 assists.
Sam Winter (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon Central) led the Colonel defense with 13 digs, followed by
Alex Derk (Perkasie, PA/Pennridge) with 11, setting a new program record in the process for career digs at 570 and counting. Maha also led all players with five blocks.
Jason Barbosa led Drew on offense and defense with 13 kills and 13 digs, while Quinn Donahue led the team with 38 assists.
Wilkes returns to CVC action on Saturday, March 21
st as they travel to face #10 Southern Virginia University at 2:00 p.m.
