ROSEMONT, PA (February 15, 2020) -- The King's College men's volleyball team split a road tri-match, sweeping the host Rosemont College, 3-0, and falling to the visiting Elizabethtown College, 3-0. The Monarchs improve to 8-3 overall with the tri-match split.

vs. Rosemont (3-0, 25-10, 25-10, 25-12):

The Ravens struck first off a Monarch error, but King's rallied to open the first set on a 12-3 run behind three aces by sophomore Joe Jones Jr., and the Monarchs did not look back from there, taking a commanding 25-10 win in set one. The second set was a similar story as King's stormed out to a 7-0 lead behind two kills by sophomore Liam Martinchek as they cruised to a second set win, 25-10. The final set of the match saw Rosemont battle early as King's led 5-3, but the Monarchs used a 10-1 run to hold a 15-4 lead and would not look back as they took the final set, 25-12, and the match, 3-0.

Sophomore Matt Piontkowski and freshman Sam Capwell led the Monarch offense in the opening match, totaling six kills each, with Piontkowski hitting .667 and Capwell hitting .625 for the match. Freshman setter George Beck dished out 14 assists with four aces, and Jones Jr. recorded a season-high tying nine aces. For the defense, freshman Joe Joe Herman led with six digs, while Piontkowski and Capwell recorded the only two Monarch blocks in the win.

Rosemont was led by Heriberto Hernandez Jr. with six kills, and Andrew Adams dished out five assists. For the defense, Kyree Hence recorded four digs, while Nick Tortorella and David Kleiner totaled three aces each.

King's hit an impressive .591 for the match compared to Rosemont's -.104. The Monarchs also held the advantage in kills (27-12), aces (19-8), assists (26-11), and digs (17-9).

vs. Elizabethtown (0-3, 12-25, 21-25, 17-25):

Elizabethtown opened the match on an 11-1 run before Piontkowski recorded a termination to end the Blue Jays' rally. The two teams traded points before King's scored three straight to pull within nine, 21-12, but Elizabethtown recorded the final four points to post a 25-12 final. The second set was a battle as Elizabethtown led early, 4-3, but the Monarchs answered with a 4-3 run to tie the set at 7. Three more ties took place before King's took their first lead of the match, 13-12, but the Blue Jays answered with another 4-3 run to regain the lead, 18-16. The Monarchs pulled within one again, 21-20, but Elizabethtown ended the set on a 4-1 run to take the set, 25-21, and a 2-0 lead in the match.

King's scored the first point of the final set, but Elizabethtown stormed out to record the next eight to take the lead. The Blue Jays would not allow the Monarchs to get within six points over the final stretch to post the 25-17 final for the set and take the match, 3-0.

Capwell led the offense yet again with seven kills, hitting .308 for the match, adding four blocks. Beck dished out 15 assists on 20 team kills while adding three blocks, and Jones Jr. and freshman Misael Hernandez led the defense with five digs and four digs, respectively. In addition, Herman recorded four kills, three digs, and two blocks in the loss.

Elizabethtown was led by Blake Hildebrand with 17 kills, Nick Baxter with 12 terminations and two blocks, and Steve Swain with 10 kills and seven digs. Dan Barckholtz set up the offense with 36 assists, adding seven digs, while Joey Nelson led the defense with nine digs.

The Monarchs struggled offensively, hitting .071 for the match compared to the Eagles' .311. King's held the advantage in blocks (6-4), while recording 20 kills off 16 assists and 24 team digs.

King's has a quick turn around as they are back in action tomorrow afternoon, hosting Yeshiva University and the City College of New York in a tri-match with game times set for 1:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m., and 5:00 p.m.