DALLAS, PA (March 13, 2022) -- After postponing the tri-match due to the winter weather in the area on Saturday, the King's College men's volleyball team dropped both matches in their MAC tri-match on Sunday afternoon in Dallas, Pa. The Monarchs fell in the opener, 3-0, to the host Misericordia University before dropping a 3-0 decision to #14 Stevenson in the second contest.

With the losses, the Monarchs fall to 11-8 overall and 1-6 in conference play.

vs. Misericordia - L, 0-3 (15-25, 18-25, 22-25):
Misericordia (12-10, 3-3 MAC) came out strong on their home court in the opening set, hitting .391 against the Monarchs. After an early service error for the Cougars, they went on a 15-3 run. King's (11-7, 1-5 MAC) recorded four of the next six points in the set to close within 17-8, and then trailing 23-10, they were able to string together a 5-1 run to close within nine, but a Monarchs service error saw Misericodia capture the opening set, 25-15.

A more balanced second set saw King's with the early 7-5 advantage. The two teams traded points, and with King's ahead, 10-8, the Cougars scored three straight to take the 11-10 lead. The Monarchs kept the set close, trailing by just two, 16-14, but the Cougars used a 9-4 run to close the set with a 25-18 win, taking a 2-0 lead over the Monarchs.

King's saw their best set of the match as they hit .429 in the third, but it was not enough as Misericordia hit an equally-as-solid .414 in the final stanza. The Monarchs were trailing 12-9 in the opening possessions before going on a 6-1 run to hold the 15-13 advantage. The Cougars responded with a rally of their own as they rattled off four straight points to fuel an 8-2 stretch. Trailing by five, King's made a final push as they got kills from the Piontkowski brothers to close within two, 24-22, but a Cougars kill ended the set, 25-22, and the match as King's fell, 3-0.

Sophomore Jared Piontkowski led King's with 12 kills, with two aces, two digs, and a block, while senior Matt Piontkowski added five kills on nine attempts with no errors, hitting .556, with three blocks. The junior setter duo of Aziz Atiyeh and George Beck combined for 17 of the Monarchs 18 assists, while sophomore Peter Scholl led the defensive efforts with five digs and three blocks. At the net, first year Rich Alvarez posted a team-high five blocks.

Misericordia was led by Anthony DePalma with 15 kills on 25 attempts, hitting .440, with two aces and two blocks. Dylan Sellitti dished out 33 assists with four aces, while Conner Westerfield posted a game-best seven digs.

As a team, King's hit .234 for the match, connecting for 20 kills on 47 attempts. The Monarchs edged out the Cougars in blocks, 8-6, and broke even in team digs with 16 each.

vs. #14 Stevenson - L, 0-3 (15-25, 15-25, 18-25):
King's (11-8, 1-6 MAC) started strong with back-to-back kills from Jared Piontkowski before Stevenson (13-6, 4-0 MAC) got rolling offensively to take a 14-6 lead as the Mustangs earned the win in the opening set, 25-15.

The Monarchs battled early in the second set as they led 6-5 before Stevenson rattled off five straight tallies. King's could not recover down the stretch in the second as they dropped another 25-15 set to the Mustangs, trailing the match 2-0.

Facing an 8-2 deficit to begin the third, King's battled back to within five, 20-15, but the two teams went toe-to-toe in the final possessions of the match with the Mustangs ahead, 25-18, to hand the Monarchs the 3-0 loss to end their Sunday MAC tri-match.

Jared Piontkowski led the way again for King's with 11 kills and six digs, adding two blocks and an ace. Junior Joe Herman added four digs and three kills with an ace, while Beck handed out 11 helpers.

Tanner Stauffer led Stevenson with 14 kills on 18 attempts with just one error, .722, while Justin Novoa posted 31 assists. Aleks Melbardis led the defense with five digs and added three aces for the Mustangs.

King's totaled 19 assists on its 20 kills in the loss, while holding the 21-20 advantage in digs in the game.

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King's will be back in action as they return home to McGrane Gymnasium after a month-long road stretch. The Monarchs will take on nationally ranked MAC opponent Stevens in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. at 7:00 p.m.