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Wilkes University Athletics

THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE WILKES UNIVERSITY COLONELS
THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE WILKES UNIVERSITY COLONELS WILKES UNIVERSITY COLONELS
WVB RUN 9_15
Joshua Ermeus '26
3
Winner Wilkes Wilkes 7-2,0-0 Landmark
1
Rutgers-Newark RUN 4-2,0-0 NJAC
Winner
Wilkes Wilkes
7-2,0-0 Landmark
3
Final
1
Rutgers-Newark RUN
4-2,0-0 NJAC
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Wilkes Wilkes 26 26 25 25 (3)
Rutgers-Newark RUN 20 28 18 18 (1)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Women’s Volleyball Returns To Winning Ways, Defeats Rutgers-Newark in Four Sets

Women's Volleyball Returns To Winning Ways, Defeats Rutgers-Newark in Four Sets

NEWARK, N.J. – Following its first hiccups of the 2026 season on Saturday afternoon, the Wilkes University women's volleyball team bounced back with a 3–1 road win at Rutgers-Newark on Tuesday night.

The win moves the Colonels to 7–2 on the season, while Rutgers-Newark drops to 4–2.

The Colonels rattled off an early four-point rally, highlighted by consecutive aces from Mia Leon (Ponce, PR/Caribbean), to jump out to an 8–6 lead. The Scarlet Raiders rallied back, eventually building a 19–17 lead for the home side. From there, the Colonels used an 8–1 run, capped by a Leon kill, to clinch the opening set 25–20.

The Colonels gradually built a 23–15 lead in the second set, highlighted by a pair of four-point runs late in the set. After Leon hit consecutive aces, a service error sparked a furious comeback from the Scarlet Raiders, who denied Wilkes six straight set-point opportunities to take a 25–24 lead. A Rutgers-Newark service error and another Leon allowed the Colonels to reclaim the lead before three straight Scarlet Raider points sealed the second set 28–26.

The third set saw a back-and-forth contest between both teams. The Colonels used three-point rallies to build leads of 9–6 and 13–10, but the Scarlet Raiders answered on both occasions with rallies of their own to even the score. Wilkes finally broke away with a five-point rally, including two kills from Leon and another from Emilee Atherholt (Coudersport, PA/Coudersport), to take a 20–16 lead. Olivia Contreras (Northridge, CA/Grover Cleveland) added a kill, and Rachael Anderson (Canmore, AB/West Island College) delivered an ace to give the Colonels the third set 25–19 and a 2–1 edge overall.

After three competitive sets, the Colonels dominated the fourth set, racing to an early 9–4 lead and never looking back. Consecutive solo blocks by Atherholt kept the momentum with the Colonels and pushed the lead to 12–5. Wilkes eventually built a 17–8 lead before the Scarlet Raiders were forced to call a timeout. Rutgers-Newark tried to mount its second big comeback of the night, at one point pulling within 21–17, but two errors halted the effort, and the Colonels took the set 25–18 in the fourth to win the match.

The Colonels return to action on the road on Thursday, Sept. 17, at 7:00 p.m. to take on Marywood University.
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