NEWBURGH, NY (October 19, 2024) -- The King's College women's volleyball went on the road to take on St. Joseph's (I.L.) and Mount Saint Mary for a Saturday tri-match. The Monarchs defeated the Golden Eagles of St. Joseph's 3-0 and dropped the Knights of Mount Saint Mary 3-0 in the Kaplan Center Gym. King's are now 16-6 overall, while the Gold Eagles fall to 9-9, and the Knights are 6-15.
 
vs. St. Joseph's (I.L.) – W, 3-0 (27-25, 25-22, 25-23):
The first matchup of the afternoon was a battle as both teams traded points throughout the opening set. The score was even at 12-12 when St. Joseph's made a 7-2 run to take the lead. Though the Monarchs held on and responded back with a 6-1 push that included Adriana Conforti (Sr.), Kathy Shepherd (Jr.), Ashley Webber (Fy.), and Emma Bolich (So.) to tie it at 20-20. From then on, every two tallies the Golden Eagles scored, King's matched them with their own two points. With a final ace by Riley McArdle (Fy.), the Monarchs won the first set 27-25.
 
The second set was much like the first and King's were trailing early on but continued to pester their opponents. The score was 15-11 when the Monarchs created a three-point swing to get within one. St. Joseph's made another 6-3 jolt to maintain a three-point cushion. King's were not going down without a fight and produced a final 8-2 burst that comprised of kills by Jessica Menze (Fy.), Bella Salvia (Jr.), and Theresa Lynch (Jr.) to ice the second set 25-22.
 
In the third and final set of the afternoon, the Golden Eagles came back with vengeance and had an 8-3 start, but the Monarchs began to chip away at their deficit soon after. The score board showed that the enemy was up 12-8 when King's came roaring back with an 8-2 run thanks to Bolich, Lynch, Menze, and Shepherd. Though St. Joseph's continued to battle their visitors and were able to regain their lead with a 6-1 spurt and change the momentum at 20-17. King's remained composed and outlasted the Golden Eagles 25-23 after a monstrous 8-3 comeback.
 
The Monarchs ended with 34 kills, 32 assists, seven aces, six blocks, and 70 digs. Shepherd set a standard of nine kills with a hitting percentage of .320. Salvia was right behind with her own eight kills. Keely Hoban (Sr.) dished out 15 assists while adding 11 digs. Webber followed with 11 assists herself. Brynn Giordano (So.) collected 19 digs.
 
St. Joseph's finished with 42 kills, 40 assists, and 75 digs. Jackie Wolf earned 15 kills and 13 digs. Luciana D'Ambrosio had 12 kills and 14 digs. Lauren Gross passed out 34 assists. Sarah Montefusco recorded 25 digs.
 
vs. Mount Saint Mary – W, 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-22):
It was a back-and-forth affair to start the first set. It was 13-13 when King's scored five straight points that included Jessica Menze (Fy.), Theresa Lynch (Jr.), Keely Hoban (Sr.), and Riley McArdle (Fy.) to take the lead. Mount Saint Mary came right back with their own 5-0 run to tie it back up at 20-20. The two adversaries began to trade tallies, but the Monarchs created a 5-2 jolt that comprised of kills by Bella Salvia (Jr.), McArdle, and Ashley Webber (Fy.) to seal the first set win, 25-22.
 
King's maintained their momentum with a 7-4 start of the second set. The hosts were not going to make it easy, and the Knights created a 6-1 burst to take control of the matchup. The Monarchs were down 11-10 when they made a 10-3 push that comprised of tallies by Adriana Conforti (Sr.), Hoban, Menze, and Salvia. From then on Mount Saint Mary pestered King's, but after a final kill by Menze, the Monarchs remained victorious 25-21.
 
The third and final set of the afternoon was much like the previous sets and the crowd witnessed several tied scores throughout the round. It was 20-20 with the Knights trying to force a fourth set when King's ended their hosts' lasting efforts with a 5-2 jolt thanks to Madisyn Heiser-Elsea (So.), McArdle, and Lindsay Arezina (So.) to bring home a 25-22 win.
 
The Monarchs finished with 40 kills, 33 assists, five aces, and 65 digs. Salvia led the team with nine kills and Lynch followed with her own eight. Hoban recorded 23 assists, nine digs, and two kills. McArdle contributed six kills and 10 digs to the stat sheet. Brynn Giordano (So.) fueled the defense with 15 digs.
 
Mount Saint Mary ended with 41 kills, 37 assists, six aces, five blocks, and 61 digs. Julianna Simone had a double-double of 13 kills and 12 digs. Jonaiya Williams recorded 16 kills for the Knights. Sofia Fredericks passed out 34 assists. On the defensive end, Erin Lema and Allie Kenney had 15 digs each.
 
King's will continue on the road with a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom contest against Lebanon Valley at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, October 23^rd. The squad will then travel to Reading, PA to take on Albright at 12 p.m. on Saturday, October 26^th.