WILKES-BARRE, PA (February 16, 2020) -- The King's College Monarchs men's volleyball team split a home tri-match Sunday afternoon, defeating the Yeshiva University Maccabees, 3-0, and falling in a five-set heartbreaker to the City College of New York Beavers, 3-2. With the split, King's stands at 9-4 overall with five matches set in the upcoming week.

vs. Yeshiva (3-0, 25-6, 25-12, 25-13):

King's started the opening match of the day strong offensively, storming out to an 11-5 lead as six different Monarchs recorded a point. A King's error gave Yeshiva their final point of the set before the Monarchs closed the first set with 14 straight points to post a 25-6 set final. The Maccabees took an early 3-1 lead in set two and continued to lead as the scoreboard read, 9-7. The Monarchs responded to score the next five points behind two aces by sophomore Joe Jones Jr. to take a 12-9 lead and finished the set on a 13-3 run to take set two, 25-12. The final set saw King's continue their strong offensive effort, leading 8-4 early. Yeshiva attempted to close the deficit, but King's would not allow the visitors to come within four over the final stretch to post the set final, 25-13, and take the match, 3-0.

Freshman Sam Capwell led the Monarch offense with a huge match, recording 11 kills on 15 attempts, hitting .600, with five digs and nine total blocks. Sophomore Matt Piontkowski recorded eight kills, hitting .583 with three blocks, while freshman Joe Joe Herman totaled seven terminations with five digs and five blocks. Senior libero Kyle Duggan also added four digs, while freshman setter George Beck dished out 29 assists. The Monarchs continued their excellent serving, as Jones Jr. totaled four aces, and freshman Misael Hernandez added three.

Eliyahou Benhamou led Yeshiva with six kills, and Benjamin Goldstein recorded 14 assists. In addition, libero Sibi Selvarajah led the defense with five digs.

As a team, the Monarchs hit .441 for the match with 33 kills compared to the Maccabees' -.053 with 18 kills. King's also held the advantage in assists (30-15), aces (11-1), digs (24-14), and blocks (9.5-0).

vs. CCNY (2-3, 25-20, 17-25, 23-25, 25-18, 13-15):

The second match of the day for the Monarchs was a battle the entire way. The teams traded points early with King's leading, 13-9, but CCNY responded with four straight points to tie the set but then handed the Monarchs three points off of errors in a 5-0 run as King's lead, 18-13. The Monarchs were able to maintain their lead, never allowing the Beavers to close within four over the final stretch to take set one, 25-20. King's trailed early in the second set, 9-5, and traded points with CCNY before cutting the deficit to three, 18-15, off a kill by Beck. The Beavers answered to record the next five points in the set, and the Monarchs failed to recover, dropping set two, 25-17, as CCNY tied the match, 1-1.

Set three began with five ties and three lead changes as King's led, 6-5, but the Beavers scored four unanswered points to lead, 9-6. Neither team could hold a sizable lead, as the teams traded scores with King's ahead, 19-18. CCNY went on a 6-1 run and seemed like they had put the set away, leading 24-20, but three straight terminations by Herman got the Monarchs within one, 24-23. A Beavers kill ended the set, 25-23, with CCNY leading the match, 2-1.

The Monarchs opened the fourth set strong, leading 7-3, but the Beavers would not let the hosts run away with the set, scoring the next six points to lead, 9-7. The set turned into a back-and-forth effort with CCNY leading 12-11. King's responded with four straight points to lead, 15-13, and they held off a late surge from the Beavers to take the fourth set, 25-18, and tie the match, 2-2, to force the fifth set.

CCNY took a commanding 6-0 lead early in the final set of the day, but King's would not go without a fight, battling back within three, 11-8. The Beavers looked as though they had put the final set away again, leading 14-9, but the Monarchs rallied behind two kills by Herman to close the deficit, 14-13. A CCNY kill ended the set, 15-13, and saw King's drop the match, 3-2.

Herman paced the offense with a season-high 24 kills, hitting .365 and adding nine digs. Capwell and Piontkowski each totaled 10 kills, while Capwell added seven blocks and Piontkowski totaled five. Beck dished out 42 assists with six digs and three blocks, and Harpersberger recorded four blocks. For the defense, Duggan led with a season-high 16 digs, while Jones Jr. totaled 11 digs with four aces.

Carlos Maldonado Madrid and Elijah Parks led the Beavers with 17 kills each, as Maldonado Madrid added two aces and eight digs. Andrew Chan controlled the offense, dishing out a game-high 51 assists with 10 digs. Vukasin Bozic recorded a double double with 12 terminations and 14 digs, adding three aces, and libero Jonathan Liao recorded 13 digs.

As a team, the King's hit .218 with 53 kills compared to CCNY's .213 with 59 terminations. The Monarchs held the advantage in aces (7-5), digs (59-57), and team blocks (11.0-5.0) in the loss.

King's is back in action on Thursday as they travel to Mount Saint Vincent on Thursday, February 20 for a 7:00 p.m. game. The Monarchs return home to host another tri-match on Saturday, February 22 with game times set for 12:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. in McGrane Gymnasium.