WILKES-BARRE, PA (January 22, 2022) -- Nine different Monarchs recorded kills as part of a balanced team effort that led the King's College men's volleyball team to a 4-0 start to the 2022 season, defeating the visiting Sarah Lawrence College, 3-0, on Saturday afternoon in McGrane Gymnasium.

King's (4-0) dominated the opening set as they stormed out to an 18-6 lead and never looked back, as they defeated Sarah Lawrence (0-1), 25-9, in set one. The Monarchs trailed, 8-6, to start the second set before two service aces from first year Alvin Abraham fueled a 5-0 run to regain the lead, 11-8. The Gryphons pulled with two, 16-14, but King's tallied six consecutive points to hold off a late Gryphons effort to win the second set, 25-19, and lead the match, 2-0. The Monarchs put together their best offensive set of the match, hitting .476 (12-21), to secure the win. Neither team could string together a rally early in the final set, but with King's lead, 15-12, the Monarchs went on a 6-2 run to hold a 21-14 advantage. Both teams traded points down the stretch as King's won the third, 25-18, to remain undefeated with a 3-0 win over the visiting Gryphons.

Senior Matt Piontkowski led the offense with nine kills on 17 attempts with just one error, hitting .417, with three digs, while sophomore Nick Greenawalt added seven kills on 12 attempts with one error, hitting .500, adding two aces and three digs. The junior pair of Aziz Atiyeh and George Beck recorded 17 and 14 assists, respectively, while Atiyeh totaled two blocks and two digs. Additionally, Abraham tallied three digs and a team-high three aces in the win.

Sarah Lawrence was led by Nate Davis with a game-high 14 kills and a team-best six digs. Lance De Leoz posted 14 helpers and four digs in the loss.

King's continued to shine defensively, holding the Gryphons to a .073 hitting percentage for the match. Offensively, King's hit .375 for the match and dished out 33 assists on all 33 kills. The Monarchs also led in the box score in points (47-24), kills (33-19), aces (9-3), blocks (5-2), assists (33-16), and digs (22-21).

The Monarchs have a quick turnaround as they host Drew University in non-conference play on Sunday at noon in McGrane Gymnasium.