WILKES-BARRE, PA (January 29, 2023) -- With their sweeps over St. Joseph's University Brooklyn and Bryn Athyn College on Sunday afternoon, the King's College men's volleyball team improved to 7-0 for the season, marking the best start in program history. The Monarchs began both their shortened 2020 season and the 2022 slate 5-0 as the previous best mark. With the split in McGrane Gymnasium in the non-conference contests, Bryn Athyn improves to 1-3 overall, and St. Joseph's Brooklyn falls to 0-2.
 
vs. St. Joseph's University Brooklyn – W, 3-0 (25-6, 25-8, 25-8):
King's (7-0) started the afternoon strong with a commanding 3-0 win over St. Joseph's University Brooklyn (0-2). The Monarchs opened the match on an 11-1 run and never looked back on their way to a 25-6 win in the first set. The Bears hung close to start the second, but with King's leading 6-3 the Monarchs rattled off the next eight points in the set, led by two kills and a block from senior Sam Capwell, as King's cruised to a 25-8 victory. It was a similar story in the final set of the match as the Bears could not overcome an early 01-2 deficit as the Monarchs took set three, 25-8, and the match, 3-0.
 
The Monarchs were paced by a 14-kill, seven-dig effort from junior Jared Piontkowski as he hit .706 for the match. Senior Joe Herman posted 10 kills with five digs and two aces, while Capwell went 5-for-8 on attack attempts with two blocks. First year Ben Maskiell dished out 24 assists to go along with seven aces and four digs, while senior George Beck added 12 with two aces.
 
The Bears were led by Leonel Bravo with three kills and six digs, while Levin Ma had three assists in the loss.
 
King's was exceptionally impressive offensively in the match, hitting .590 with 42 kills on 61 attempts with just six errors, including a .778 hitting percentage in the opening set. The Monarchs also had assists on 39 of their 42 kills. The King's defense was strong again, holding the Bears to a -.149 hitting percentage with 13 attack errors, while also edging out St. Joseph's Brooklyn in kills (42-6), aces (13-0), blocks (3-0), assists (39-6), and digs (26-12).
 
vs. Bryn Athyn – W, 3-0 (25-10, 25-5, 25-9):
The Monarchs would continue their momentum into their second match of the day as King's set a new program record for service aces in a three-set match with 23. This broke the previous mark of 19 set against Rosemont in 2020.
 
Much like their first match, a quick start proved to be the key to the first-set win, leading Bryn Athyn (1-3) 10-1 early before cruising to a 25-10 win in set one. The Lions rallied in the second to keep within 3-2, but the veteran Monarch squad rattled off 12 unanswered points to go up, 15-3, en route to a 25-5 win in set two. Bryn Athyn held the early 3-2 lead over King's, but with the score tied at five each, the hosts opened the scoring with an 11-1 run that would give them the edge to a 25-9 victory in the final set and a 3-0 win for the match.
 
Junior Nick Greenawalt recorded a team-high seven kills on eight attempts with no errors to hit .875 for the match, while Piontkowski added six kills on seven attacks for a .857 hitting percentage, adding five aces and three digs. Herman went on to record nine aces, just one shy of the current record, while Capwell posted three blocks. Additionally, Maskiell totaled 16 assists with five aces, while Beck tallied eight with three digs and two aces.
 
Cevin Spencer paced Bryn Athyn with six kills, while Rafe Williams had a team-high five digs.
 
As a team, the Monarchs hit an even more impressive .638 for the match with just two attack errors, while holding Bryn Athyn to a -.020 percentage. The hosts also edged out the Lions in kills (32-12), aces (23-2), blocks (4-0), assists (29-9) and digs (23-12).
 
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King's will be back in action on Thursday evening as they open their Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) schedule on the road at Eastern University. The MAC match up is set for a 7:00 p.m. start in St. Davids, PA.