DOYLESTOWN, PA (October 1, 2024) -- The King's College women's volleyball team had their first Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom road matchup against the Aggies of Delaware Valley (7-8, 1-1 MAC Freedom). The Monarchs (11-4, 0-2 MAC Freedom) fell to the Aggies 3-1 in James Work Gymnasium on Tuesday night.
 
Delaware Valley had a strong 5-1 start and controlled much of the matchup in the opening set. The Aggies had every answer to King's pursuit to taking the lead. The Monarchs made a late 5-2 push that included Kathy Shepherd (Jr.) and Bella Salvia (Jr.), but after a final ace by the hosts, King's dropped the first set 25-15.
 
Delaware Valley maintained their momentum for much of the second set. The score was 12-7 when the Monarchs made a seven-point swing that included kills by Jessica Menze (Fy.) and Theresa Lynch (Jr.) to take over the match. Though the Aggies answered right back with their own 9-0 jolt to regain their control. King's made one final push with back-to-back tallies, but Delaware Valley ultimately took the set 25-21.
 
The third set was a battle with 13 ties and six lead changes. The Monarchs opened with four straight points that comprised of Shepherd and Riley McArdle (Fy.). From then on, the matchup went back-and-forth with both opponents trying to gain a greater point differential than two. It was 22-22 when King's opened the gates with three unanswered points that included a block by Shepherd to win, 25-22.
 
The fourth set was a must win event to push the match to five. The Monarchs maintained their energy and went on a 5-1 run that comprised of tallies by Lindsay Arezina (So.), Shepherd, and Menze. The two adversaries began trading points, but King's continued their steady lead and scored three straight points to force a Delaware Valley timeout at 15-11. After the break, the Aggies responded with an 8-5 burst to take over once again. At 23-20, the Monarchs retaliated with 3-0 spurt to tie the set. Though Delaware Valley prevailed and won 25-23.
 
King's ended with 32 kills off of 32 assists, five aces, 13 blocks, and 94 digs. Morgan Williams (Jr.) fueled the defensive end with 42 digs. Menze had eight kills and four blocks. Shepherd had her own eight kills with four blocks and four digs. Keely Hoban (Sr.) collected 15 assists and Ashley Webber (Fy.) was right behind with 12.
 
The Aggies finished with 61 kills, 57 assists, eight aces, four blocks, and 119 digs. Grace Kane record a double-double with 13 kills and 16 digs. Madison Alexander chipped in 27 assists and 18 digs herself. Hannah Brennan produced 20 assists and Zariah Prescott had 13 kills. Emma Helverson also added her own 13 kills for the evening. Grace Wilson sparked the defense with 36 digs.
 
The Monarchs are back home to take on the Pacers of Marywood at 6 p.m. on Thursday, October 3^rd. The squad will challenge the Bulldogs of DeSales on Wednesday, October 9^th at 7 p.m. for another MAC Freedom matchup.