WILKES-BARRE, PA (SEPTEMBER 14, 2023) -- Career highs and a valiant effort by the King's College women's volleyball team on Thursday night in McGrane Gymnasium. The Monarchs (5-1) sweep the Nittany Lions of Penn State Wilkes-Barre (1-2) 3-0. 

In the first set of the evening, King's started off with a 10-5 lead, which included multiple kills by Theresa Lynch (So.) and Emma Bolich (Fy.). Penn State Wilkes-Barre would try to scrape away their deficit, but the Monarchs had every answer. The score was 24-13 when the Nittany Lions received some hope by marking the scoreboard with two consecutive points. Yet, King's prevailed and with a kill by Emily Scott (Sr.), Monarchs took the set 25-15.

King's were strong right out the gate in the second set with an 11-4 spurt. The squad tabbed several kills by Bolich, Lynch, and Lindsay Arezina (Fy) and two aces by Lynch in this run. From there on out, Penn State Wilkes-Barre would try to shift the momentum, but King's continued to dominate. In the last 14 points, the Monarchs totaled six kills that comprised the work of Bella Salvia (So.), Madisyn Heiser-Elsea (Fy.), Emma Monson (Jr.), and Lynch. King's took the set 25-10. 

In the third and final set of the night, the Monarchs had another good start with a 7-3 pace. With authority, the Nittany Lions made a 5-1 burst, making the score 13-10. King's controlled the rest of the match soon after and with five unanswered points, the Monarchs won 25-13. 

King's ended the night with 34 kills, 31 assists, 15 aces, 39 digs, and a hitting percentage of 0.211. Lynch recorded a career high of 11 kills and a hitting percentage of 0.407. Bolich followed with seven kills. Keely Hoban (Jr.) set a standard of 29 assists for the team. On the defensive end, Monson had a career high of 13 digs and Morgan Williams (So.) also had 13 of her own. 

Penn State Wilkes-Barre's Sierra Hildebrand and Jazmyne Bates led the Nittany Lions with five kills each. Bates also sparked the offense with 10 assists. Ella Fleschut pushed the defense with 11 digs. 

The Monarchs have a short turn around and are back in action tomorrow, September 15^th at 6 p.m. to battle the Defenders of Clarks Summit. King's are back on the road for their first Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom matchup of the season and will take on DeSales at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, September 20^th.