HACKETTSTOWN, NJ (September 11, 2021) -- The seniors on this King's College women's volleyball continued to shine on Saturday as they led the Monarchs to a 3-2 win over the Rutgers-Camden Scarlett Raptors and 3-0 win over the host Centenary Cyclones in the John M. Reeves Student Recreation Center. The wins push the Monarchs to a 6-0 start for their 2021 season with their Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) opener early next week.

vs. Rutgers-Camden (W, 3-2 - 25-21, 17-25, 25-15, 15-25, 15-11):
The Monarchs opened their afternoon with a five-set battle with the Scarlett Raptors. The opening set defined the match for the Monarchs opener in the tri-match. A hard-fought 25-21 win in set one sparked Rutgers-Camden to rally and win the second set, 25-17, and tie the match, 1-1.

It was King's turn to take control, cruising to a 25-15 third set victory before Rutgers-Camden matched the set, 25-15, in the fourth to tie the match back up, 2-2, and force the deciding fifth set. Despite a late comeback from the Scarlett Raptors, King's emerged victorious, 15-11, to win the match, 3-2, against an athletic Rutgers-Camden squad.

Senior Olivia Bunch led all players with a match-high 17 kills, recording her first career double-double with a matching 17-dig effort. Senior Danielle Kitchner totaled a career-high 14 kills with two blocks, and senior Cleo Schultz added eight kills three blocks. Senior Wiatt Hoffmann continued to fill the stat sheet with her third consecutive double-double, dishing out 39 helpers with 10 digs. Another career-best effort came from senior Karissa Hartzell as she posted 24 digs with two aces to lead five Monarchs with double-figure dig totals. Senior Toni Galasso and first year Carly Shire rounded out the defense, recording 12 and 10 digs, respectively.

Isabella Choice led the Scarlett Raptors with 13 kills, and Brinn Hassan totaled 39 assists. Kaliyah Moss led the blocking efforts with 5 total blocks, while Morgan Fox recorded a team-high 20 digs.

As a team, the Monarchs dominated the stats, hitting .189 and holding the advantage over the Scarlett Raptors in kills (56-51), assists (51-41), and digs (81-73).

vs. Centenary (W, 3-0 - 25-13, 25-16, 25-16):
After a thrilling five-set match to start the day, the Monarchs cruised to a 3-0 win against the host Centenary. Their offense only improved throughout the match, hitting .222 in the opening set 25-13 win, .250 in the set two 25-16 notch, and a solid .316 to end the match, 25-16.

Bunch ended the day leading all players again with 13 kills, seven digs, and two aces. First year Keely Hoban dished out a team-high 17 assists with two service aces, while Hoffmann added 13 helpers. Hartzell led another solid defensive effort for the Monarchs, collecting 17 digs with two aces, and Galasso added nine.

Emerald Richard led Centenary with seven kills, while Amelia Rodriguez lent out 22 assists. The Cyclones defense was led by Alyssa Bizzaro with 15 digs and Martina Josifoska with 13 digs.

King's posted a solid .265 hitting percentage and won each statistical category over Centenary, including kills (37-25), aces (7-3), assists (36-23), and digs (52-46).

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King's will be back in action as they host Delaware Valley University on Tuesday, September 14, with first serve set for 7:00 p.m. in the MAC Freedom opener in McGrane Gymnasium.