WILKES-BARRE, PA (September 5, 2018) – Senior Rachel Miller led all hitters with 16 kills and freshman Taylor Mueller once again upped her career-best for digs with 23 as the King's College women's volleyball team shook off a feisty Clarks Summit University squad in four games with scores of 25-9, 19-25, 25-17 and 25-16.

The Monarchs (4-0) stayed undefeated with the win, marking the third time in the last four seasons that King's has opened the season unbeaten in its first four contests. Furthermore, Miller crept even closer to the elusive 1,000 kills mark as she sits with 962 after her total Wednesday evening. Head coach Bernie Kachinko is also now two wins shy of 500 for his career.

King's started the match quickly, holding the visiting Defenders (1-3) to just one kill in the opening stanza while forcing -.357 hitting from CSU to take the opening match lead. Clarks Summit came back strong in the second stanza, posting 14 kills over the period, leading by as much as 10 at 24-14 late in the set. King's rallied with five consecutive points, but it wasn't enough as CSU deadlocked the match at a set apiece.

In the third set, Clarks Summit opened the stanza with the first three points, but King's rallied with six consecutive points thanks to some solid serving from Mueller. The rest of the set was supported by Miller and freshman Becca Goldberg, as each posted five terminations to help put the Monarchs up a set. Goldberg needed only six attempts to reach her kill total in the game.

In the final game, Goldberg added another three terminations while Miller chalked up another five kills to lead the Monarchs to the win. Miller hit .214 for the match, as King's posted a hitting percentage of .135 for the match.

Goldberg was strong Wednesday evening, as she finished with eight kills on 13 swings, hitting .538. Newcomer Wiatt Hoffmann just missed another double-double with 25 assists and nine digs, while Mueller tallied a team-best eight aces in addition to her 23 digs. The eight service aces in a four-set match tied the school record, held by Heather Langmann from all the way back in September 21, 1993 against Susquehanna.

Freshman Grace Frati also registered 10 digs, while sophomore Lindsay Brady posted three digs and three aces in her one set of action. King's service game and passing on the night was strong, posting just four receiving errors, while erring only once on its own serve. Alyssa Robinson also posted four assists and three digs.

Beth Muhlenkamp led CSU with 13 kills, 18 digs and six total blocks, while Kara Brown also posted 13 kills and 11 digs in the loss.

The Monarchs will continue their five-match home stand on Saturday afternoon, hosting Penn State Brandywine at 11 a.m. and Gwynedd Mercy University at 3 p.m. in action from McGrane Gymnasium.