WILKES-BARRE, PA (January 27, 2024) -- The King's College men's volleyball team make it 4-0 to start the season on Saturday afternoon. The Monarchs swept both Mount Aloysius Mounties (1-3) and Bryn Athyn Lions (1-5) 3-0 in McGrane Gymnasium.
 
vs. Mount Aloysius, W 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-18)
King's trailed 3-0 in the opening set against Mount Aloysius before creating their own 3-0 push with the help of Gavin Gilhool (Jr.) and Greg Bousquet (So.) having back-to-back kills to tie it at 3-3. The match tied three other times when the Monarchs took a break for it and created a two-point lead. Though the Mounties continued to pester King's as they continued to stay within two for the much of the set. The score was 12-10 when the Monarchs made a 7-4 run that included a pair of aces and kills by Nick Greenawalt (Sr.). Mount Aloysius got within two after making a 6-3 jolt. After a timeout by King's, the squad made an outstanding 3-1 run that comprised of kills by Bousquet and Dougherty to take the first set 25-21.
 
The Monarchs maintained their momentum with a 10-5 start that included kills by Bousquet and Rich Alvarez (Jr.). King's controlled much of the matchup from then on out. The score was 23-13 when the Mounties created a 5-0 run to get within five. With two final kills by Bousquet, the Monarchs remained victorious 25-18.
 
The third and final set of the bout saw five tied scores and four different lead changes. Every time King's looked to create, Mount Aloysius would come inching back with an answer. It was 13-13 when the Monarchs trotted away with a 12-5 push seeing kills by Gilhool, Dougherty, Bousquet, Alvarez, and Greenawalt to take a 25-18 win.
 
King's finished the match with 39 kills, 33 assists, five aces, 32 digs, nine blocks and a hitting percentage of .326. Dougherty had a team high of 10 kills and six digs. Bousquet followed with his own nine kills with a hitting percentage of .348 and added four blocks and four digs. Greenawalt added seven kills to the stat sheet. Ben Maskiell (So.) had 31 out of the team's 33 assists with five digs.
 
Mount Aloysius ended with 31 kills, 28 assists, six aces, 32 digs, and a hitting percentage of .129. Matthew Franz had 10 kills and Evan Schmidt had 26 helpers. Corey Obeldobel led the defensive end with 11 digs.
 
vs. Bryn Athyn, W 3-0 (25-12, 25-16, 25-15)
King's started off hot in the second match of the afternoon with a 14-1 start that included four aces by Ben Maskiell (So.) and kills by Gavin Gilhool (Jr.) and Greg Bousquet (So.). Bryn Athyn responded back with a 5-1 jolt. Though that did not quiet the Monarchs as they led the remainder of the match. Once the Lions thought they could make a break away, King's came back with two of their own. The Monarchs won the first set 25-12.
 
King's maintained their edge in the second set, but Bryn Athyn were not going down without a fight. The score was 9-8 when the Monarchs took a five-point lead thanks to numerous tallies by Nick Greenawalt (Sr.), Bousquet, and Maskiell. King's controlled the majority of the matchup from then on out. With a final kill by Greenawalt, the Monarchs celebrated a 25-16 win.
 
In the third and final set of the afternoon was much like the first. The score was 22-7 when the Lions came roaring back with an 8-0 burst in hopes to take King's to a fourth set. The Monarchs earned the three remaining points to take the game 25-15 with back-to-back aces by the veteran player Greenawalt.
 
King's had 35 kills, 32 assists, 14 aces, 39 digs, and a hotting percentage of .333. Maskiell led the squad offensively with 19 helpers and seven aces. Bousquet had nine kills and Greenawalt followed with six kills with four aces and nine digs. Dougherty added eight digs himself.
 
Bryn Athyn had 19 kills, 19 assists, 32 digs, and a hotting percentage of .068. Bryan Choute had eight kills and Laban Genzerlinger had 18 assists. Adan Rodriguez-Sapien produced 11 digs and Teagan Dewees followed with eight.
 
The Monarchs are back in action Sunday, February 4^th against Valley Forge and St. Joseph's University Brooklyn. The matches are scheduled for 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. The crew will have their first road test at Dean College on Friday, February 9^th at 6 p.m.