WILKES-BARRE, PA (September 24, 2022)-- The King's College Monarchs went a perfect 6-0 in their first home tri-match of the season sweeping Keystone College and the University of Valley Forge 3-0 on Saturday at McGrane Gymnasium. With this win, the Monarchs have now won 22 straight non-conference games at home and improve to 8-3 overall. With the losses the Keystone College Giants fall to 4-8 overall while the University of Valley Forge Patriots drop to 2-6 overall.
vs. Keystone College - W, 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-14):
In the first set of the opening game, the score was initially close before the Monarchs went on an 8-3 stretch, one which they never looked back from. It was a big day for service aces for the team which started with one from
Carly Shire on the first play and five from
Adriana Conforti in the set.
In the second set, the Giants kept things interesting as there were six different lead changes. Just as it looked like the Giants would take the second set with a 23-18 lead, the Monarchs offense exploded with seven straight points thanks to multiple kills by
Kayla Sondberg and
Joy Kindall. They managed to steal the second set, giving them a chance to close things out early, and they did just that.
Finding their rhythm from the start, the Monarchs never trailed in the third and final set.
Keely Hoban,
Morgan Bryant and
Bella Salvia each had service aces as they won by a commanding 25-14 to sweep the Giants in their first match of the day.
The team was superior in nearly every every statistical category hitting .233 with 44 kills, 10 aces, three blocks, 44 assists and 66 digs. Kindall continued to show off her attacking prowess as she lifted the team with 17 kills, averaging 5.67 a set. The first year middle hitter also led the team with three blocks while hitting .455. Sondberg and
Kathy Shepherd each recorded nine kills and hit .333 and .280. Shire had a team-high 18 assists while
Morgan Williams had 17 digs and Conforti put up five service aces.
Sophomore Adrianna Derrick and first year Rebecca Jackson registered six kills for the Giants while first year Hailey Herneisey had two aces and led the team with 14 digs.
vs. University of Valley Forge - W 3-0 (25-4, 25-6, 25-6):
The Monarchs continued to control the opposition right out of the gate in the second matchup as they did not trail once while holding the Patriots to single digits in each contest. Everything that had been going right for the team today shined in this set as they racked up early kills from Shepherd, Kindall and
Theresa Lynch and more aces, including five straight by Williams in the first set.
After taking the set one by a final of 25-4, the team scored eight unanswered to start the second set, which the Monarchs took 25-6. This one was capped off by both a kill and an ace from Conforti. The third and final set featured a couple of aces by
Morgan Bryant while
Bella Salvia had eight of her team-high 11 kills. The Monarchs closed out the day by cruising to another 25-6 victory.
The team managed to put up 17 service aces in the match, the third most in a three game match in program history. Williams also made history with nine service aces, tying her with Jill Leibman and Sandy Tarabochia for third most in program history in a three game match. The first year libero led the team with 14 digs, followed by
Morgan Bryant and
Adriana Conforti with six. Conforti also led the team with 17 assists which were followed by 15 from Hoban and six for Shire.
Kindall followed Salvia with eight kills while Shepherd had seven. The team outplayed the opposition in every category hitting .532 with 40 kills, 40 assists and 35 digs.
Sophomore Caitlyn Fisher was responsible for all five kills for the Patriots while sophomore Telia Robinson had four assists.
The Monarchs will hit the road on Tuesday for their third Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom matchup of the year at Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pa. They will return home on Thursday and face Bryn Mawr College. Both games will start at 7:00 p.m.
