WILKES-BARRE, PA (February 6, 2022) -- The King's College men's volleyball team secured identical 3-1 wins in both matches of the Sunday afternoon doubleheader over the visiting SUNY Potsdam. An all-around balanced effort in both games led the Monarchs to victory as they improved to 8-1 for the season and remain unbeaten at home in McGrane Gymnasium, while the Bears drop to 4-9.

Game 1 - W, 3-1 (25-14, 19-25, 25-19, 26-24):
King's (8-1) start the opening game strong, holding SUNY Potsdam (4-9) to -.028 hitting in the opening set as they cruised to a 25-14 win. The Bears rallied in the second set, and despite the Monarchs hitting .375 for the set, SUNY Potsdam battled back for a 25-19 win in set two to tie the match, 1-1.The Bears came out strong again in the third set, leading 9-4, but the Monarchs battled back within 15-13 before going on a 12-6 run to end the set, 25-19, and lead the match, 2-1.

The final set was a thrilling way to end this gritty opening match as the two teams went toe-to-toe with neither team leading more than three points before SUNY Potsdam held a late 23-20 lead. King's answered with four consecutive points led by two kills from junior Sam Capwell to take a 24-23 advantage. After a kill from the Bears, the Monarchs closed the set with back-to-back kills from Capwell to secure the fourth set, 26-24, and the match, 3-1.

Capwell led three Monarchs attackers in double figures with 15 kills on 25 attempts, hitting .560, adding five blocks. Sophomore Jared Piontkowski totaled 14 kills with nine digs and four blocks, and junior Joe Herman tallied 13 kills, five digs, and two blocks. Defensively, juniors Aziz Atiyeh and George Beck added team-high tying nine digs with Beck dishing out 40 assists. Additionally at the net, sophomore Peter Scholl recorded five total blocks, while senior Matt Piontkowski added three.

Joe Zimmerman led SUNY Potsdam in game one with 21 kills, Alec Roy dished out 45 assists, and Zaire Rogers and Keven Sanchez totaled game-high 13 digs each.

King's hit a solid .325 (48-117) with just 10 errors in the match, holding the Bears to a .106 hitting percentage (52-142). Inside the stat sheet, the Monarchs held the advantage in blocks (12-3) in the win.

Game 2 - W, 3-1 (26-28, 25-23, 25-21, 25-22):
SUNY Potsdam took advantage of their strong start, posting their best hitting percentage in the second match as they hit .178 and recorded 17 kills to hand the Monarchs the set one loss, 28-26. King's rallied in the second, taking an early 6-2 lead before the Bears chipped away to tie the set at 20. The teams traded points, but King's had the final word in the set as they scored three of the final four points to win set two, 25-23.

The Monarchs carried their momentum into the third as they led 7-2. The Bears would not go away quietly as they closed the deficit to two, 16-14, but King's had an answer for each attempt from the visitors as they outscored SUNY Potsdam 9-7 in the final possessions to win set three, 25-21, and take the 2-1 lead in the match. The hosts finished the doubleheader in stride in the final set of the day. Trailing 10-8, the Monarchs traded points to tie the fourth set at 15. The previous seven sets during the day set up the final set nicely as King's held a 22-20 advantage in front of their electric home crowd. The Bears scored two points to the Monarchs one as King's led, 23-22, and the hosts had the final word as a kill from Matt Piontkowski and a Bears error secured the set four win, 25-22, and the match, 3-1, for the doubleheader sweep in non-conference play.

The second matchup saw several Monarchs record career-bests, as Jared Piontkowski tallied a career-high 19 kills with six blocks to lead three Monarchs in double figure kills. Capwell added 11 kills on 17 attempts, hitting .529, while Herman contributed 10 kills and seven digs. Beck dished out a career-best 50 assists, while Atiyeh led the defensive efforts with 12 digs. Sophomore Nick Greenawalt hit a career-high with 11 digs, and Scholl was solid at the net again with three blocks.

The Bears were led by Joe Zimmerman again in the second match with 24 kills. Alec Roy handed out 36 helpers, and the defense was led by Keven Sanchez with 16 digs.

The Monarchs struggled a bit offensively, hitting an uncharacteristic .218 in the win, but held strong defensively as they limited SUNY Potsdam to a .123 hitting percentage.

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King's will be back in action on Tuesday evening for the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) opener as they travel to Messiah University with game time set for 7:30 p.m.