WILKES-BARRE, PA (January 15, 2023) – The King's College men's volleyball team kick started their 2023 season in dominant fashion, using a balanced team effort to defeat the visiting Neumann University, 3-0, in McGrane Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon. The Monarchs improve to 1-0 in 2023, while the Knights drop to 0-1.
 
King's (1-0) used an impressive attacking performance in the first set where they hit .650 as a team to cruise to a 25-9 win to start the match. The Monarchs jumped out to an early 15-3 advantage and never looked back as they secured the opening-set win. Set two was no different as King's posted 15 kills as a team and used an 18-6 rally to start the set on their way to a 25-12 win, leading the match 2-0 over Neumann (0-1).
 
The Knights would not go down without a fight in the final set, pulling within one, 4-3, in the early moments of the set, but King's would then open the scoring with a 6-1 spurt with three different Monarchs recording kills in the run to pull ahead, 10-4. Neumann would close within two one final time, 18-16, but King's delivered the final blow as they outscored the Knights 7-1 in the final stretch on their way to a 25-17 set three victory and a 3-0 win in the match.
 
Junior Jared Piontkowski led King's with 15 kills on 21 attempts, hitting .571 for the match, with team-highs of three aces and three total blocks, while senior Joe Herman was extremely efficient, posting eight kills on 11 attempts with no errors and a .727 hitting percentage with three digs. First year Ben Maskiell made a strong start to his career as a Monarch with22 assists, a team-high six digs, and two aces, while senior George Beck dished out 14 helpers with two aces and four digs. Additionally, first year Greg Bousquet went a perfect 5-for-5 on attack attempts in his collegiate debut, and senior Aziz Atiyeh rounded out a balanced team defensive effort with four digs.
 
Neumann was led by Manny Waugh with eight kills, while Christian Johnson posted all 17 assists. The Knights defense was led by Brandon Baskerville with four digs.
 
As a team, the Monarchs were impressive all around, hitting .516 for the match with just nine attack errors while holding the Knights to a dismal -.016 hitting percentage. King's dominated every category in the match including kills (42-17), aces (7-3), blocks (7-0), assists (39-17), and digs (28-10).
 
The Monarchs will hit the road for the first time in 2023 as they travel to Elizabethtown College to take on the Blue Jays at 6:00 p.m. in Thompson Gymnasium on Thursday, January 19.