WILKES-BARRE, PA (September 25, 2021) -- The veteran-led Monarchs used their depth and experience against a young and gritty Ravens squad to record a doubleheader sweep, as the King's College women's volleyball team defeated the visiting Rosemont College Ravens, 3-0 and 3-0, on Saturday afternoon in McGrane Gymnasium.

Game 1 vs. Rosemont (25-15, 25-21, 26-24):
King's (10-1, 1-1 MAC Freedom) recorded their best hitting percent in the match to open up the day, hitting .565 with 14 kills on 23 attempts. Senior Danielle Kitchner was electric to start the day, totaling three kills as part of an early 6-2 lead from the Monarchs. King's continued to hold Rosemont (2-9, 0-0 CSAC) at bay and capitalized on 11 Ravens errors as they posted the 25-15 win in the first set of the day.

Set two began in a back-and-forth bout before a 3-0 run gave King's a 7-4 lead. The set turned into a game of runs with Rosemont recording a 4-0 run to take the 8-7 lead, but King's answered with a 7-1 stretch to lead, 14-9. The Ravens tied the set, 16-16, off a Monarchs error. King's trailed by two, 20-18, but five errors from Rosemont and kills by seniors Sarah Hayward and Christie Brown put the set away with King's on top, 25-21.

The final set in the opener was a true thriller, as the Ravens looked as though they would force a fourth set leading 11-8, but two kills from senior Wiatt Hoffmann and two Ravens errors tied the set at 12. Rosemont led again, 15-13, but a 9-4 Monarchs rally behind three kills from junior Kayla Sondberg gave King's a 22-19 advantage. Two kills and three service aces by the Ravens put them within a point of forcing a fourth set, but the senior-led Monarchs got a response off kills from Kitchner and senior Cleo Schultz and two Ravens errors to win the final set, 26-24, and the opening match, 3-0.

Senior Olivia Bunch led all players with nine kills, adding seven digs and an ace, while Kitchner totaled seven kills on 16 attempts, hitting .438. The senior pair of Schultz and Brown rounded out the top attackers in game one for the Monarchs, posting six and five kills, respectively, with Schultz adding a block.

Hoffmann led the match with 27 helpers, and senior Karissa Hartzell was one shy of her career-high, totaling 23 digs, with two aces.

Rebecca Dzuranin led the Ravens with eight kills, while Kara Green paced the visitors with 16 digs. Setter Evora Kaiwi totaled 23 assists and a match-high five aces.

As a team, the Monarchs hit .248 for the match holding the Ravens to just a .128 hitting percentage. King's also won the battle in the stat sheet, including in kills (40-32), assists (35-30), and digs (53-46).

Game 2 vs. Rosemont (25-11, 26-24, 25-13):
It was a similar story in the second game of the day as King's recorded its best hitting percentage of the game, hitting .440 as they connected on 14 kills off 25 attempts. The Monarchs led 16-11 to open the set before scoring nine unanswered points behind three kills and a block from Brown, taking the set, 25-11, over the Ravens.

Rosemont came out firing in the second set as they looked to tie the second game and take a set from the Monarchs as they led 20-15. Just as in game one, the veteran Monarchs squad rallied over the young Ravens team as they posted a 7-1 run to gain the lead, 22-21. Both teams traded runs of pairs, but a kill from Kitchner put an exclamation point on the set, 26-24, with King's leading the match, 2-0.

The young Rosemont team struggled in the final set as the Monarchs stormed out to a 12-3 lead. After four unanswered points by the Ravens, the Monarchs rattled off eight straight points before cruising to a 25-13 win in the final set of the day, taking the game, 3-0.

Sondberg posted a season-best nine kills on 17 attempts hitting .412, to lead the Monarchs in game two. Brown and Bunch totaled six kills apiece, while Kitchner, Schultz, and first year Emily Scott added five kills, with Schultz totaling a team-high three blocks. Hoffmann dished out 33 helpers, while adding four digs, three kills, two blocks, and two aces, while senior Toni Galasso recorded a match-high tying 16 digs.

The Ravens were led by Dzuranin again with a game-high 12 kills, Kaiwi posted 29 assists, and Green added16 digs.

King's kept up the solid team-effort as the Monarchs recorded a .302 hitting percentage, compared to the Ravens .083. The Monarchs led in kills (40-32), assists (37-31), service aces (5-3), digs (46-42), and blocks (6.0-4.0).

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The Monarchs are back in action as they host a Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) contest against FDU-Florham in McGrane Gymnasium on Tuesday, September 28 at 7:00 p.m.