MECHANICSBURG, PA (March 7, 2020) -- The King's College men's volleyball team dropped both of their Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) matches in their tri-match as the Monarchs fell  to Alvernia University, 3-0, and Messiah College, 3-0, on Saturday afternoon in Messiah's Hitchcock Arena. With the two losses, the Monarchs drop to 16-6 overall and 0-4 against MAC opponents.

vs. Alvernia (0-3, 14-25, 12-25, 19-25):

King's led early in the opening set as they led 3-2, but Alvernia exploded offensively for a 12-5 run that the Monarchs could not recover from as they dropped set one, 25-14. A big block by sophomore Joe Jones Jr. and freshman Sam Capwell to start the second set and seemed to change the momentum for King's, but the Golden Wolves answered to score the next six points. The Monarchs inched within four, 11-7, but Alvernia clicked offensively to record 10 unanswered points as they secured the second set, 25-12.

The final set of the match saw the Monarchs start strong again behind another block from Capwell and sophomore Matt Piontkowski as King's opened with a 5-3 lead. The two teams went back-and-forth over the next stretch as the Monarchs trailed by just two, 15-13, after a kill by sophomore Liam Martinchek and back-to-back kills from Piontkowski, and then King's trailed by just one, 17-16. Alvernia pulled ahead with an 8-3 run to end the set, 25-19, and secure the match, 3-0.

The Monarchs struggled offensively in their opening match, as they hit -.013 as a team in the match. Freshman Joe Joe Herman led the way with five kills, and junior Danny Harperseberger and Martinchek and Piontkowski all added four terminations. For the defense, Jones Jr. led with six digs while senior Kyle Duggan added five. At the net, Capwell led with four blocks, and freshman setter George Beck dished out 18 assists in the loss.

Alvernia (11-7, 2-2 MAC) was led by Josh Stewart with 13 kills, while Mike Monczewiski dished out 41 assists with three aces, six digs, and four blocks.

The Golden Wolves hit .372 for the match and led in all statistical categories as they proved too much for the young Monarch squad.

vs. Messiah (0-3, 13-25, 13-25, 18-25):

The Monarchs trailed early in the first set, 10-2, before scoring the next three points to inch within five, 10-5. Messiah pulled ahead with a 9-3 run that King's could not overcome as they dropped set one, 25-13. Messiah held the early 5-2 advantage, but the Monarchs tied the set, 5-5, behind a Falcons error, a kill by Beck and an ace by Capwell. Another big Messiah run that saw King's trailing, 18-10, proved too much for the Monarchs to overcome as they dropped the second set, 25-13.

The final set of the day seemed to be finished as Messiah held a 22-12 advantage, but King's sparked offensively as they used a 6-1 run to pull within five, 23-18, behind three blocks by Harpersberger. Their comeback efforts came up short as the Falcons recorded the last two points of the set to claim the final set, 25-18, and the match, 3-0.

Capwell led the Monarchs offense with seven kill on 15 attempts, hitting .333, adding the team's only service ace and two blocks. Adding to the offense were Piontkowski with four and Herman with three kills a piece. Jones Jr. led the defense again with six digs, Duggan totaled four, and Herman and freshman Aziz Atiyeh added three each. At the net, Harpersberger led with three blocks, and Beck dished out 15 assists.

Messiah (12-4, 4-0 MAC) was led by Marshall Nixon with 11 kills and Mason Nissley with 10 terminations. Matt Knab dished out 37 assists with four aces, and Caleb Weaver recorded a match-high 13 digs.

The Monarchs struggled again as a team as they hit just .068 from 18 kills off 73 attempts compared to the Falcons' .333 hitting percentage. Inside the box score, King's finished the match even with Messiah in the blocks tally at six.

King's will return to action on Wednesday as they host cross-town rival Wilkes University in MAC play in McGrane Gymnasium starting at 7:00 p.m.