WESTON, MA (February 19, 2022) -- To end their weekend in Massachusetts, junior setter George Beck recorded the 1,000^th assist of his career to help lead the King's College men's volleyball team to a 3-1 win over Emerson College in the tri-match opener. The Monarchs then fell, 3-0, to the host Regis College in the night cap on Saturday.

vs. Emerson - W, 3-1 (25-16, 24-26, 25-15, 25-23):
King's (11-3, 1-1 MAC) jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but neither team could string together a big rally as the Monarchs led, 16-14. Then King's found their rhythm as they went on a 9-2 run to end the set, 25-16. Each team had their chances at rallies in the second as King's tied the set at 18 off a kill from senior Matt Piontkowski. Emerson (1-9, 0-4 Great Northeast) led 23-20 before the Monarchs regained the lead 24-23 with four unanswered points, but the Lions had the final say as they scored three straight to secure the second set, 26-24, and tie the match, 1-1.

It was another back-and-forth stat to the third set as King's trailed, 13-12, before they opened the scoring with a 13-2 run that ended the set with the Monarchs ahead, 25-15, to lead the game, 2-1. Neither team led by more than three points in the fourth, but then with King's ahead, 19-18, they strung together five straight to build a lead that would hold off a late effort by Emerson to seucre the win in the fourth set, 25-23, and win the match, 3-1.

Sophomore Jared Piontkowski led the Monarchs in the opener with 17 kills, recording a double-double with 11 digs and adding seven blocks and four aces. Junior Joe Herman also recorded his own double-double of 10 kills and a team-high 13 digs while adding four blocks. Beck dished out 34 assists in the win, including the milestone assist, adding six digs and three aces, while sophomore Peter Scholl recorded a career-high 10 blocks in the win. Additionally, junior Aziz Atiyeh posted eight digs in the win.

Emerson saw three in double digit kills led by Bayden Slavik with 12, adding 27 assists, while Bryson Beck posted a match-high 20 digs in the loss.

As a team, the Monarchs posted 43 kills off 39 assists, while their defense continued its strong play holding the Lions to a .096 hitting percentage. Inside the stat sheet, the Monarchs also held the advantage in aces (10-5) and blocks (12-8).

vs. Regis - L, 0-3 (16-25, 13-25, 18-25):
Regis (5-7, 1-4 Great Northeast) led early, 13-5, but the Monarchs hung tough throughout the set despite some offensive struggles before falling 25-16 in the opening set. It was more of the same in the second set as King's failed to string together any runs, dropping the second set, 25-13. The Monarchs showed some fire in the third, keeping the Pride's lead to just two points for much of the set, but as they trailed 20-17 Regis scored five of the last six points to earn the set three win, 25-18, and hand the Monarchs just their third loss of the season, 3-0.

In the nightcap, Herman led the offense with five kills, while Atiyeh totaled 10 digs and four assists. At the net, Jared Piontkowski totaled three blocks, while Beck handed out six helpers in the loss.

Regis was led by Joseph Perez with nine kills on 14 attempts, hitting .500, while Marcello Cappuccio paced the defense with 15 digs. The setter duo of Brendan Lam and Tyrell Bucasas recorded 27 of the Pride's 30 assists in the win.

King's totaled 13 kills on 12 assists in the loss, adding four blocks and 28 digs.

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The Monarchs will be back in action next weekend for their fourth-straight road contest on Saturday, February 26 as they face the Ducks of Stevens Institute of Technology in a MAC matchup at 1:00 p.m. in Hoboken, NJ.