MADISON, N.J. – The Drew University men's volleyball team threw down a season-high 13.5 blocks and the Rangers swept Wilkes University 3-0 for their first-ever win over the Colonels Wednesday evening in Baldwin Gym.
 
Drew won by scores of 25-23, 25-18, 25-17.
 
The Rangers posted their second-highest block total in program history behind only a 15-block showing in a win over Bard on Jan. 21, 2023.
 
Junior Jacob Sledz registered a big all-around match for the Rangers (8-10), recording nine kills, six aces, eight digs, and four blocks. Junior Ephraim Smith added kills and hit .412 while tying a career-high with seven blocks, and classmate C.J. Addeo contributed six kills and six blocks. Sophomore Andrew DuHaime also registered six kills, and senior Omarf Ortega-Reyes distributed 27 assists. Sophomore Jason Barbosa added five blocks, and junior Bryan Do scooped eight digs.
 
Jackson Shafer notched nine kills for the Colonels (12-4), who had won their previous four meetings with Drew, which is competing in its third year as a varsity sport.
 
Wilkes led 11-7 in the opening set before a 7-1 run put the Rangers in front. The Colonels came back to assume an 18-16 advantage, but Drew would not go away and answered with a 7-3 surge to go up 23-21. Wilkes scored the next two points to even the score, but that's when DuHaime came up big with back-to-back kills, posting his third and fourth terminations of the period to hand Drew the set.
 
The Rangers reversed the script in the second set, jumping out to a quick 5-1 advantage. The lead changes hands briefly in the period before Drew took command with a 6-1 run that put them up 17-13. Drew led 21-17 before closing the period on a 4-1 run, when Barbosa, Smith, and Sledz each scored a kill.
 
Drew was in the control for nearly the entire third set, when it committed just two errors and hit .381. The Rangers led 11-8 before a 5-0 run gave the squad an eight-point advantage, and the lead would grow to as much as 10 late in the set.
 
The Rangers are back in action on Friday, when they visit Cairn University starting at 7 p.m.