WILKES-BARRE, PA (October 11, 2022): The King's College Monarchs women's volleyball team put up three competitive performances in their Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom crosstown matchup at Wilkes University on Tuesday night. Despite their close efforts, the team fell 0-3 to the Wilkes University Colonels. With this loss, the Monarchs fall to 13-6 overall, 0-5 in MAC Freedom play and 4-3 on the road. Wilkes meanwhile improves to 6-16 overall, 2-4 in MAC Freedom competition, and 2-5 at home.

Carly Shire started things off with a pair of service aces before the Monarchs went on an early 14-4 stretch. This run saw a pair of kills from reigning Monarch of the Week Kathy Shepherd. The Colonels came right back to tie things up at 16 apiece before King's took a 19-16 lead. Wilkes responded with a late 9-3 stretch and emerged victorious 25-22 in the opening set.

The Monarchs looked to continue to keep things close in the second set, and they did just that. Bella Salvia and Joy Kindall got the action started with two early kills as the team made several explosive plays at the net. This saw nine different ties and King's held several slim leads throughout. The set came all the way down to the wire but Wilkes got the edge, winning 26-24.

In the third set, it was the Colonels who got out to a faster start as they took a 15-6 lead. But the Monarchs made things interesting. Trailing 19-10, it looked as though Wilkes had the sweep in the bag. But King's went on a thrilling 7-1 run thanks to service aces by Keely Hoban and Morgan Williams in addition to kills by Emma Monson, and Mia Campanile. The team pulled as close as within two, trailing 22-24. The Colonels secured the sweep on a kill by sophomore outside hitter Alexa Cassel. 

On the night, the Monarchs outhit the Colonels with a .202 hitting percentage. The Colonels hit .180. They also registered more blocks with five as Wilkes had two. Kindall led the attack with 10 kills followed by Kayla Sondberg with seven and Shepherd with four. Kindall was also responsible for four of the five blocks. Shire had three service aces and led the team with 15 assists. Adriana Conforti had seven assists Hoban six. Williams had a game-high 12 digs followed by Shire with six and Morgan Bryant with four. 

For the Colonels, junior middle hitter Nicole Fitzpatrick was atop the team with 19 kills and nine digs. Junior defensive specialist Emily Gentzel served up four aces while Cassel had a game-high 34 assists.

The Monarchs will look to rebound on Friday as they continue this road trip at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg. Action is set to begin at 7:00 p.m.