WILKES-BARRE, PA (February 22, 2020) --  The King's College men's volleyball team extended their win streak to three as they defeated the New Jersey City University Gothic Knights, 3-1, and the Neumann University Knights, 3-0, in a home tri-match in McGrane Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.

vs. NJCU (3-1, 25-20, 20-25, 27-25, 25-17):

King's opened the match on an 8-3 run behind three kills by freshman Sam Capwell. The Gothic Knights pulled within four, 10-6, but the Monarchs answered with four straight off three kills by freshman Joe Joe Herman to lead 14-6. NJCU battled to inch within four again, 20-16, but a 5-4 run by King's secured the first set, 25-20.

The Monarchs trailed early in the second set, 5-2, but a big 6-2 run by the Monarchs saw them take the lead, 8-7. The Gothic Knights rebuilt their lead, holding a 13-10 advantage over the hosts, before King's answered with a 6-2 rally to regain the lead, 16-15. NJCU recorded the next four points all off of Monarchs errors to fuel the next 6-4 run in favor of the Gotchic Knights as King's dropped set two, 25-20, with the match tied, 1-1.

King's continued their streak of beginning their sets strong, jumping to early 7-3 lead before NJCU went on a 5-1 run to tie the third set at 8. The Gothic Knights went on a hot streak, outscoring the Monarchs over the next stretch, 10-7, to hold the 18-15 advantage. King's rallied to pull within one, 20-19, before the teams traded points over the next stretch with the Monarchs trailing, 24-22. Then, a big kill from sophomore Matt Piontkowski, a double block by Capwell and freshman George Beck, and a kill by Herman gave King's the lead, 25-24, before capturing the final points need to take set three, 27-25, and the 2-1 lead for the match.

The final set of the match was another back-and-forth effort before NJCU tied the match at 11. King's put this set away with a 10-2 run over the next stretch, and the Gothic Knights could not recover as the Monarchs took set four, 25-17, and the match, 3-1.

Herman led the Monarchs with 20 kills, nine digs, and two blocks, and Capwell added 12 terminations on 20 attempts, hitting .550, with eight total blocks. Beck dished out 34 assists with 6 digs, and four different Monarchs recorded a service ace in the win. For the defense, senior libero Kyle Duggan led with 13 digs, sophomore Joe Jones Jr. added 11, and freshman Aziz Atiyeh added eight. Alongside Capwell at the net was Piontkowski with four blocks and junior Danny Harpersberger with three.

Jonathan Andrews paced NJCU (4-5, 0-1 Skyline) with 22 kills and 12 digs, while James Bajor added 10 terminations. Leo Ferrari dished out a game-high 52 assists with 12 digs, and Martin Chromulak added two aces. In addition, libero JJ Berdecia tallied 12 digs in the loss. At the net, Christian Ramirez and Brandon DaSilva added three total blocks each.

King's (11-4, 0-2 MAC) hit .190 for the match with 45 kills compared to the Gothic Knights' .140 off 56 kills. In addition, the Monarchs held the advantage in team blocks, 12-6, while totaling 54 team digs.

vs. Neumann (3-0, 25-23, 25-18, 25-16):

Neumann led early, 9-7, before King's traded points with the visitors over the next stretch to tie the set at 15. The Monarchs then went on a 7-3 run to hold a 22-18 advantage, but the Knights would not drop this set easily as they tied the set at 22 on four straight points. Kills by Capwell and Herman over the final four points of the set secured the opening set for the Monarchs, 25-23.

The Knights rallied in the second set, taking a daunting 6-1, before King's answered with a back-and-forth effort as they tied the set at 11 off a Capwell termination. The Monarchs used a 9-3 run to retake the lead, 20-14, and cruise to a win in the second set, 25-18, as they led the match, 2-0.

The final set of the afternoon saw the Monarchs storm out to a 12-4 lead as six different Monarchs recorded a point in the opening stretch. King's would then cruise to a 25-16 final in the set and take the match, 3-0.

Herman led the Monarchs offense again, totaling 17 kills and hitting .395, with eight digs and four blocks. Piontkowski performed well again with 12 kills and two blocks, while Capwell rounded out the King's offense with nine terminations and six blocks. For the defense, Jones Jr. led with a season-high 19 digs, and Duggan added eight. In addition, Beck dished out 40 assists, and sophomore Liam Martinchek added five kills and two blocks.

Neumann (3-13, 0-3 CVC) was led by Conner Kolek with nine kills, while John Hoopes and Ryan Bollinger added with eight kills a piece. Jules Maiorano led with 31 assists, and Nick Shortlidge led with 14 digs.

As a team, King's (12-4, 0-2 MAC) hit .289 for the match compared to the Knights' .174. King's led in the box score with kills (47-35), aces (4-3), blocks (9-4), assists (45-32), and digs (53-54).

The Monarchs are back in action with a quick turn around as they head to Pratt Institute to face the host Pratt and Sarah Lawrence in a tri-match starting at 2:00 p.m.