WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (October 16, 2018) – In Middle Atlantic Conference action tonight the Monarchs fell to the Misericordia University Cougars in a five-set nail biter. Rachel Miller walked away with 26 kills, Wiatt Hoffman 45 assists and four aces and Taylor Mueller 28 digs. As a team the Monarchs made 52 kills and averaged a .235 hitting percentage. With set scores 9-25,19-25, 25-22, 25-18 and a superset of 19-17, King's drops to 17-8 overall and 3-3 in MAC Freedom bouts.

The Monarchs breezed by the Cougars in the first set only allowing nine points out of their 29 attempts. They finished with a .034 hit percentage compared to King's .467. Miller was able to sound off eight of her threats throughout the set as well as an ace. Almost every Monarch on the court this set was able to make a kill.
 
In the second, the team was able to grab 11 kills in comparison to Misericordia's 15 and still scored a better hit percentage (.273). Executions by Miller, Becca Goldberg, Rachel Galante and Danielle Kitchner were able to keep the scores spread enough along with two aces from Hoffmann and a killer block by Kitchner and Galante. King's took the second set after four unrequited points ending with a kill by Miller.
 
The Cougars came back in the third and would gain momentum from that point, but King's didn't go down without a fight. The Monarchs stayed up in the set for quite some time with Grace Frati and Christie Brown contributing points as well as Miller. Misericordia hit a four-point streak to tie the set and errors on King's part split the scores. Galante and Miller were able to hit some last-minute bombs but wouldn't be able to get the win, leaving kings three points shy.
 
Two Cougars errors and a Galante smash kicked off the fourth set followed by another error and Miller with a kill to put King's up before Misericordia recorded eight points in a row. From there the teams went point-for-point, a kill by Jessica Oltman solidified the Cougars set.
 
It came down to the fifth set where the Monarchs and Cougars would tie about six times before Misericordia was able to break away and score the last two points leaving the game at 19-17. It was a true grudge-match to end the game. Points went back-to-back while King's made 24 total attempts and Misericordia 30. Galante and Hoffman delivered a huge stop in this set as well as kills by Brown, Frati and Miller. Oltman scored the final two points of the contest.

The Monarchs will travel to Lycoming College Thursday for a 6:00 p.m. match in Williamsport, Pa.