WILKES-BARRE, PA (October 5, 2022) - The King's College Monarchs women's volleyball team faced one of their toughest matchups yet in the DeSales University Bulldogs on Wednesday night at McGrane Gymnasium. The team fell 0-3. With this loss the Monarchs fall to 11-5 overall, 0-4 in Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom play and 8-2 at home. DeSales meanwhile improves to  to 12-7 overall and 3-1 in MAC Freedom play. 

King's got off to a rousing start with the first seven points in the match. Bella Salvia, Kayla Sondberg and Joy Kindall each recorded kills. They also got a service ace from Bella Salvia. DeSales immediately tied things up followed by 13-3 stretch to help earn them a 25-14 victory in the opening set.

The Monarchs again had a strong start to the second set. They got off to an early 6-1 lead as Carly Shire had a kill. This time around, the Monarchs had several leads and kept the Bulldogs from going on any significant runs. There were five different ties in the set. Kathy Shepherd, Adriana Conforti and Mia Campanile all registered kills to join in on the attack. Despite being in until the very end, the Bulldogs got the edge in the second set 25-22.

The third set was another close affair. This one had six different ties as the two teams traded points early on. The Monarchs found themselves trailing 20-14 before a pair of kills by Kindall and one by Salvia put them within striking distance, down 23-19. In the end however, the Bulldogs took the final set 25-19 to finish off the sweep.

Despite the loss, the Monarchs put up a good fight against one of the toughest MAC Freedom opponents. The team played two close sets. In the end, King's had 42 digs which were superior to 39 by DeSales. The two teams were also even in blocks as they both registered three. As a team, the Monarchs finished the night with 23 kills, 21 assists and three aces. The three aces were from Salvia, Morgan Williams and Morgan Bryant. Kindall led the Monarchs with seven kills followed by four by Sondberg and three by Shepherd. Keely Hoban put up a team-high seven assists. Defensively, Shire led with 12 digs followed by six from Williams and Devan Moses. Sondberg and Kindall were responsible for all three blocks.

First year outside hitter Abby Weise led the Bulldogs with 18 kills, followed by six from senior outside hitter Austen Brewer and first year right side hitter Madison Swift. Senior libero Mckenzie Brady served up seven aces and had a game-high 13 digs. Weise recorded 12 digs. Junior setter Grace Grandinetti had 18 assists. 

The Monarchs will embark on a six-game road trip starting with a Saturday tri-match against St. Joseph's College Long Island and Mount Saint Mary College at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m in Newburgh, NY. Their next action at home will be a MAC Freedom matchup against Misericordia University at 7:00 p.m.