DALLAS, PA (October 28, 2021) -- In their regular season Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) finale, the King's College women's volleyball team fell on the road at Misericordia University, 3-1. The Monarchs drop just their fourth contest of the season, falling to 20-4 overall, 4-4 in MAC Freedom play, while the Cougars improve to 14-14 overall, 5-3 in the MAC Freedom.

The Cougars controlled the opening set as they led 15-8. King's went on a 5-1 run to inch within three, 16-13, but Misericordia finished the set with a 9-2 run of their own to win, 25-15.

After each team had a chance to string together a run early in the second set, the score was tied, 13-13, before the Cougars used a 5-2 run over the next stretch to keep the Monarchs at bay and win the second set, 25-20, and lead the match, 2-0.

The Monarchs came alive in the third, storming out to an 8-1 lead. An 11-3 Misericordia rally saw the hosts ahead by one, 12-11, but a 7-2 stretch from King's gave the Monarchs the lead they needed, 18-14, to hold off some last efforts from the Cougars as King's took set three, 25-22, still trailing 2-1.

Misericordia regained momentum, leading 15-7 to start the fourth set. King's pulled within seven, 19-12, off a kill by senior Danielle Kitchner, but the Cougars rattled off the final six points of the set to win the set, 25-12, the match, 3-1.

Senior Olivia Bunch paced the Monarchs offense with 12 kills and 10 digs, while Kitchner totaled 8 kills and two blocks. Senior Wiatt Hoffmann continued to fill the stat sheet with 28 assists, 13 digs, two kills, an ace, and a block. The Monarchs defense was led by the senior pair of Karissa Hartzell with 18 digs and Toni Galasso with 15.

Fiona Pyfer led the Cougars with a match-high 20 kills, Annika Massa tallied 47 assists, and Jackie Clevland added 16 digs. 

As a team, the Monarchs totaled 37 assists on their 39 kills with 68 total team digs.

The Monarchs are back in action on Saturday as they head to Lehman College for a tri-match with the host Lehman and Sarah Lawrence. King's will then prepare for the MAC Freedom playoffs as they will travel to Arcadia University on Monday at 7:00 p.m. for the opening round.