BRONX, NY (October 30, 2021) -- A balanced team effort helped lead the King's College women's volleyball team to a tri-match sweep on Saturday afternoon in the Bronx, NY to end their regular season schedule. King's defeated Sarah Lawrence, 3-0, in their opener before defeating the host Lehman College, 3-0, in the night cap.

vs. Sarah Lawrence - W, 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 26-24):
King's (22-4) led 15-9 early over Sarah Lawrence (10-15), but the Gryphons used a 9-3 run to tie the opening set, 18-18. The Monarchs used a run of their own, rallying for seven of the next nine points to win set one, 25-20, over Sarah Lawrence.

The Monarchs led again in the second, 10-5, but an 8-1 Gryphons run gave them the 13-11 lead. Sarah Lawrence led by two, 15-13, before King's scored four unanswered points behind two kills from senior Danielle Kitchner. It was a battle down the stretch, but the Monarchs came out on top, 25-22, after a kill from senior Sarah Hayward put the set away to give King's the 2-0 lead.

The final set of the match was a battle from the start with five early ties, with the set tied, 18-18. An ace from first year Carly Shire and two Gryphons errors gave the Monarchs the 21-18 lead, but Sarah Lawrence rallied behind a 6-2 run to lead 24-23. King's answered with the final three points of the set behind kills from Kitchner and junior Kayla Sondberg and a block from the pair to win set three, 26-24, and the match, 3-0.

Kitchner led the Monarchs with a match-high 13 kills, adding six blocks and six digs. Senior Olivia Bunch added 11 kills with eight digs, and senior Cleo Schultz recorded eight kills. Wiatt Hoffmann tallied 42 assists and nine digs, and Sondberg posted a career-high five blocks. The defense was led by senior Karissa Hartzell with 22 digs, senior Toni Galasso totaled 18 digs, and Shire added 13.

Sarah Lawrence was led by Skyle Kawecki-Muonio with 10 kills and 20 digs, and Mia Rector totaled 17 assists.

As a team the Monarchs hit .215 for the match while holding the Gryphons to a .149 hitting percentage. King's held the advantage in kills (48-38), blocks (6-3), assists (46-34), and digs (82-77).

vs. Lehman - W, 3-0 (25-13, 25-6, 25-11):
King's controlled the entire match from the start, storming out to an 18-3 lead, and did not look back as they earned the set one win, 25-13. It was a similar story in set two as the Monarchs held the host Lightning to just six points, cruising to a 25-6 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.

Lehman (1-15) scored the first point of the final set, but King's answered as they scored 14 unanswered points en route to a 25-11 win in set three and a 3-0 win for the game.

Bunch posted 14 kills on 26 attempts, hitting .423 with eight digs, with Kitchner adding eight kills with three blocks and Sondberg totaling seven. First year Keely Hoban dished out 33 assists, while the back-row pair of Galasso and Shire added 10 digs each. Additionally, Hartzell posted five aces with seven digs.

Andrea Alacron led the Lightning with five kills, and Heder Rodriguez tallied seven assists and 10 digs.

The Monarchs totaled a .272 hitting percentage on 35 kills off 35 assists. They held Lehman to just a -.120 percentage.

King's is back in action on Monday as they are set to play in the opening round of the 2021 MAC Freedom tournament. The Monarchs will head to Glenside, PA to face the Knights of Arcadia University at 7:00 p.m. for a spot in the semifinals.