WILKES-BARRE (October 26, 2021) -- In a five-set thriller, the King's College women's volleyball team surged through the final three sets to earn the come-from-behind win, 3-2, over the visiting Lycoming College Warriors in an important Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) matchup on Tuesday night in McGrane Gymnasium.

The win marks the sixth consecutive season that the Monarchs have recorded 20-plus wins. Additionally, King's recorded a perfect 13-0 record on their home court, their first undefeated home season since 2002 and their third all time.

King's (20-3, 4-3 MAC Freedom) seemed to have control early in the opening set, leading 15-9, but Lycoming (9-16, 2-5 MAC Freedom) got some momentum behind an 11-2 run to hold the 20-17 advantage. After the Monarchs pulled within one, 21-20, off a kill from senior Sarah Hayward, the Warriors closed the set with four straight points to hand the Monarchs the 25-20 loss.

Lycoming used that momentum from the opening set to command set two, leading 17-11, and the Monarchs could not recover as they fell behind, 2-0, in the match with the 25-16 loss in the second set.

It was a battle the rest of the way as the Monarchs chipped away at the early Warriors lead. The third set saw 12 ties and two lead changes with King's coming out on top, 25-23.

Set four seemed like it would go to the Warriors, leading 12-8, before the Monarchs rattled off eight straight points behind two kills from senior Danielle Kitchner to take a 16-12 lead. Lycoming would keep the set close, taking a one-point lead, 24-23, but a 5-2 rally from the Monarchs behind another two kills from Kitchner and an exclamation point from junior Kayla Sondberg gave King's a 38-26 win in the fourth set to force the fifth.

The visiting Warriors took control of the final set early, holding an 11-6 advantage, but King's responded as they scored the next six points to lead 12-11. The Monarchs would allow just one point down the final stretch, scoring the last three points of the set to win set five, 15-12, and the match, 3-2.

Senior Olivia Bunch led the way with a double-double of 20 kills and 17 digs. The pair of Kitchner and Hayward rounded out the offense as Kitchner recorded 13 kills, two aces, and two blocks while Hayward added 12 kills and three blocks. Senior Christie Brown also had a solid game offensively with seven kills and six digs.

Senior Karissa Hartzell recorded 25 digs, while first year Carly Shire totaled 14. Setter Wiatt Hoffmann dished out 51 assists, adding 14 digs, two kills, and a block in the win.

The Warriors were led by Elizabeth Kelson with 19 kills and eight blocks, Piper Schwenk tallied 50 assists, and Ali Koval posted a game-high 35 digs.

As a team, the Monarchs totaled 58 kills off 54 assists while adding 90 team digs. King's held the advantage over Lycoming in aces (6-3).

The Monarchs are on the road for their final regular-season matchups, including an important MAC Freedom game at Misericordia on Thursday, October 28 at 7:00 p.m. in Dallas, PA.