WILKES-BARRE, PA (January 18, 2020) -- The King's College men's volleyball team opened their first varsity season as they swept their home tri-match with thrilling wins over College of Saint Elizabeth, 3-2, and Lehman College, 3-0, on Saturday afternoon. The Monarchs start their 2020 season with a perfect 2-0 record.

vs. Saint Elizabeth:

The Monarchs delivered with a thrilling performance in their first ever varsity competition, taking the Eagles to five sets to start the day, with three out of the five sets exceeding the necessary 25-points to take a set. Each team traded points early, as neither led by more than two points before a 7-3 run by Saint Elizabeth saw them leading 15-12. King's answered with a 4-1 run to tie the set at 16. Every time it looked as though the Eagles would put the set away, the Monarchs responded to tie the set on eight separate occasions before a kill by freshman Sam Capwell and a service ace by sophomore Liam Martinchek gave King's the first set, 30-28.

King's opened the second set with an 8-0 run as they carried the momentum with them. They continued to hold an eight-point advantage before Saint Elizabeth used a 9-3 run to inch within two, 16-14. A back and forth effort saw the Monarchs leading by three, 21-18, before three straight Eagles points tied the set at 21. King's closed the set on a 6-4 run behind kills by sophomore Joe Jones Jr. and junior Danny Harpersberger and four Eagles errors to take the set, 27-25.

The Monarchs were handed their only two set losses on the day in the next two sets, 21-25 and 26-28, as the Eagles tied the match, 2-2, to force the game-deciding fifth set. There were three ties to start the final set of the match, but the Monarchs retained the lead after each one as they used a 9-3 run behind two kills by Herman and kills by Martinchek, Capwell, and sophomore Matt Piontkowski to close the match and take the final set, 15-9.

In their opening match of the day, the Monarchs held on to defeat the Eagles, 3-2. King's was led by freshman Joe Joe Herman with 19 kills, hitting .372, while adding eight digs, three service aces, and two block assists. Piontkowski and Capwell also had a great opening performances, as Piontkowski totaled 15 kills hitting .333 and Capwell totaled 11 kills and six block assists. For the defense, senior Kyle Duggan recorded 15 digs, and freshman George Beck dished out 49 assists while adding eight digs in the win.

The Eagles were led by Kodi Peters with 17 kills, hitting .560, and Justin Millan with 15 kills. In addition, Charles Pampliega dished out 43 assists, and Daniel Chanvez led the defense with 18 digs.

As a team, King's connected for 55 kills on 147 attempts (.211) compared to Saint Elizabeth's 61 kills on 153 attempts (.176). The Monarchs held the advantage in blocks (11-7), and they totaled 50 team assists and 48 team digs in the win.

vs. Lehman:

In the second game of the tri-match, the Monarchs defeated Lehman, 3-0, holding the Lightning to just eight points in the final set of the day. Despite trialing early in the first set, 5-2, King's used an 11-3 run to build a lead, 16-5. Lehman would pull within two, 19-17, before the Monarchs used a 6-4 run to end the set, 25-21. The second set saw both teams trade three consecutive points with King's leading, 13-12. The Lightning tied the set at 15 but the Monarchs answered with a 10-3 run to take the second set, 25-18. To end the day, King's controlled the entire final set, building a 20-5 lead before capturing the match with a 25-8 third set final.

Herman led the offense again with 11 kills on 18 attempts (.556) with seven digs and four service aces, and Martinchek added seven kills. Beck played well again at setter, dishing out 33 assists and adding seven digs, and Duggan rounded out the defensive effort for the Monarchs with seven digs of his own. At the net, Capwell added three total blocks, including two solo blocks, in the win.

Lehman was led by Peter Veljovic with 10 kills on 22 attempts (.409) and seven digs, and Christian Agudo added 10 digs for the defense. In addition, Mentor Mahmuti dished out 16 assists, while Blake Amari and Veljovic added team-high tying three block assists.

The Monarchs hit .291 for the match compared to the Lightning's .200, while also holding the advantage in kills (38-26), aces (10-1), and assists (36-21). They also totaled 32 team digs and four team blocks.

King's returns to play next Saturday, January 25, for a road tri-match as they travel to Bard College to face Sarah Lawrence at 1:00 p.m. and the host Bard at 3:00 p.m.