HOBOKEN, NJ (February 26, 2022) -- In their first contest in a week, the King's College men's volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision at Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday in MAC play. With the loss, the Monarchs fall to 11-4 overall and 1-2 in MAC contests, while the Ducks improve to 13-3 for the 2022 season and 2-0 against conference foes.

King's (11-4, 1-2 MAC) battled through the opening set in Canavan Arena as they went through a back-and-forth start to the game. As the Monarchs trailed Stevens (13-3, 2-0 MAC) 14-10, the Monarchs went on a 6-1 run to take a 16-15 lead. The set ended with five ties and two lead changes that saw the Ducks score the final three points to earn the opening set win, 25-22.

The Monarchs took an early 3-0 lead in the second set before Stevens opened a 13-3 run to take a 13-7 advantage. The Ducks defense held King's to just five more points down the stretch as King's dropped set two, 25-12, to trial the match, 2-0. Stevens ran away with the final set behind a 15-5 start as the Ducks won set three, 25-12, and handed the Monarchs the 3-0 loss in MAC play on Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore Jared Piontkowski led the Monarchs offense with 12 kills, adding three blocks, three digs, and an ace. Junior Joe Herman added seven kills with four digs, while the pair of junior Sam Capwell and sophomore Nick Greenawalt tallied two blocks each at the net. Defensively, sophomore Mike Bizzoco paced King's with five digs, while junior Aziz Atiyeh added three digs and eight assists. Additionally, junior George Beck totaled 10 assists in the loss.

Stevens was led by Koby Sherman with 11 kills and three aces in just two sets, while Colin Nikc dished out 16 assists. The defense was led by Zachary Evans with six blocks and Carver Weirick with seven digs.

As a team, the Monarchs totaled 23 kills off 22 assists, while the defense recorded 18 digs in the loss.

King's will be back in action on Wednesday, March 2 as they travel down to Arcadia University in MAC play at 7:00 p.m.