WILKES-BARRE, PA (April 1, 2022) -- In the final match of his career, senior Matt Piontkowski delivered the game-winning point in the fifth set to give the King's College men's volleyball team the 3-2 win over Misericorida University on Friday night in the MAC match up in McGrane Gymnasium. The Monarchs finish the 2022 season with a 15-11 overall record, going 4-9 in the MAC, while the Cougars drop to 16-17 for the season and 5-8 against conference opponents.

In an evenly contested match up, King's (15-11, 4-9 MAC) took the opening set thanks to an early 7-3 lead that allowed the Monarchs to set the tone for the match. Misericordia (16-17, 5-8 MAC) battled back to hold a 13-12 advantage, but the Monarchs used a 5-1 run that would hold down the stretch as the hosts won the opening set, 25-22.

Misericordia responded in the second set as they cruised to post the 9-3 lead early on, and the Monarchs could not recover as they dropped a 25-15 decision in the set that tied the match, 1-1.

The third set saw both teams go back-and-forth in the early possessions, and with the set tied at seven a piece, King's went on a 10-7 run to hold off the come back efforts by the Cougars. Two Misericordia errors ended the set with the Monarchs ahead, 25-21, as the hosts took the lead, 2-1.

With the fourth set underway and the Monarchs ahead, 10-9, Misericordia used an 11-2 rally to take the lead and never looked back on their way to a 25-16 win to force the fifth and deciding set.

Misericordia struck first in the final set of the match, but King's came out firing to lead, 9-6. The Cougars used a gritty run to take a 12-11 advantage, but the Monarchs would score four of the final five points in the match including the exclamation point to secure the win from Matt Piontkowski as King's earned the 15-13 win in set five and the 3-2 win in their season finale.

Sophomore Jared Piontkowski led King's with 17 kills and 11 digs, while junior Joe Herman recorded nine kills with five digs and two blocks. Matt Piontkowski came up big in his final game in his career, tallying nine kills on 15 attempts, hitting .467, with three digs. Junior Aziz Atiyeh totaled a team-high tying 11 digs, while junior George Beck dished out 37 helpers with six digs in the win. Additionally, junior Sam Capwell added eight kills on 17 attempts with no errors, hitting .471, with three digs and a team-high three blocks.

Anthony DePalma led the Cougars with 26 kills, seven digs, two blocks, and two aces. Connor Spencer recorded a team-best nine digs, while Dylan Sellitti totaled 61 assists in the loss.

As a team, the Monarchs hit .212 for the match, recording 43 kills on 41 assists. They also totaled five aces, six blocks, and 39 digs in the huge team win.