WILKES-BARRE, PA (October 2, 2021) -- Senior Toni Galasso recorded the last two points of the match on back-to-back aces to secure the win, 3-2, in the nightcap over Brooklyn as the King's College Monarchs went 2-0 on the afternoon to improve to 13-1 overall. King's defeated the visiting Penn College Wildcats, 3-0, in the opener before defeating the Brooklyn College Bulldogs, 3-2, in a night cap thriller in McGrane Gymnasium on Saturday.

vs. Penn College - W, 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-18):
King's controlled the match from the start, leading 6-2 early. Penn (1-7) inched within three, 10-7, but the Monarchs kept the momentum to close out the opening set on a 15-4 run to earn the set win, 25-11.

The Wildcats scored the first point of the second set, but the Monarchs recorded three consecutive points to start a 9-2 rally. Both teams traded points before Penn strung together a 4-1 run to pull within three, 11-8. Senior Cleo Schultz took control with three straight points off two kills and a block to fuel a 9-2 run with King's leading, 20-11. The Wildcats hung tight down the stretch, trying to close the deficit, but King's ended the set on back-to-back points, winning the second set, 25-15.

King's posted a similar 16-8 start in the final set. Penn recorded three points to inch within five, 16-11, but a 6-1 Monarchs run secured a significant lead, 22-12, to cruise to a set three win, 25-18, and a 3-0 win for the match.

Senior Christie Brown paced the offense with a career-high 13 kills, adding nine digs three service aces. Schultz was the other top hitter for the Monarchs with seven kills while adding a career-high six total blocks. First year Keely Hoban controlled the offense with her first career double-double with 23 assists and 10 digs, adding three aces and two blocks. The defense was led by senior Toni Galasso with 12 digs, while Carly Shire added a career-best 11 digs.

The Wildcats were led by Lauren Hergert with four kills, and setter Cheyenne Stein dished out 12 assists. Penn's defense saw three players in double digits, including Stein and Emily Ferguson with 12 and Sierra Yaggie with 10.

As a team, King's hit .164 (35-110) for the match while holding Penn to an abysmal -.075 (16-93). Inside the stat sheet, the Monarchs held the advantage in points (55.0-23.0), kills (35-16), aces (13-3), blocks (7-4), and assists (27-5).

vs. Brooklyn - W, 3-2 (20-25, 25-16, 25-15, 23-25, 15-10):
Brooklyn (7-7) led 6-1 early before King's opened up an 11-1 run to take the lead, 12-7. The Bulldogs responded with another run as the scoreboard read, 17-15, and they used an 8-5 rally in the final stretch to take the opening set, 25-20, over the Monarchs.

King's seemed to find their rhythm offensively in the second set, putting together a 14-9 lead. Brooklyn closed the deficit to pull within two, 14-12, but the Monarchs scored the next five points behind two kills and a block from Brown, leading 19-12. The Bulldogs could not recover as King's tied the match, 1-1, with the 25-16 second set victory.

It was a back-and-forth effort to begin the third set of the match that saw the score tied, 10-10, before four consecutive Monarchs points gave them a 14-10 advantage. King's was in control for the remainder of the set, scoring 11 of the final 16 combined points to earn the set three win, 25-15, and take a 2-1 lead in the match.

This night cap thriller was far from over as Brooklyn surged into the fourth set, and after a tight battle to start the Bulldogs broke out six straight points to build an 18-13 advantage. It seemed as though the Monarchs would rally, pulling within one, 21-20, but the Bulldogs outscored King's, 5-3, over the final stretch to tie the match, 2-2, with the 25-23 win in the fourth set.

Brooklyn carried their momentum into the final set as they held the early 6-4 advantage, but three Bulldogs errors and a kill from Brown put the score back in favor of the Monarchs, 8-6. Both teams traded runs of three with the Monarchs ahead, 11-9, but back-to-back kills from seniors Danielle Kitchner and Olivia Bunch and consecutive service aces from Galasso sealed the set, 15-10, and the match, 3-2, for the Monarchs.

Galasso recorded a career-high 35 digs to pace the Monarchs defense in the thrilling win with three aces. Senior Olivia Bunch posted a new career-best 19 kills with 11 digs, while Schultz added 12 kills on 23 attempts, hitting .478, with three blocks. To round out the top hitters was Kitchner with 11 kills on 24 attempts to hit .333, with five blocks and five digs. Senior setter Wiatt Hoffmann continued her excelled with 45 assists, 19 digs, and three kills. To add to the defensive efforts were Brown with 18 and Shire with 14.

Brooklyn was led by Ashley Fung with 18 kills, 23 digs, and five aces, while Ezri Shor dished out 44 helpers and 21 digs.

King's hit .213 (58-183) for the match while holding Brooklyn to .116 (55-215). Additionally, King's led the stat sheet in kills (58-55), blocks (10-4), assists (56-52), and digs (117-97).

--

The Monarchs are back on the road for their first game away from McGrane in two weeks as they travel to Center Valley, Pa. to take on the DeSales University Bulldogs in MAC Freedom play on Wednesday, October 6 at 7:00 p.m.