CHESTER, PA (February 15, 2024) -- The King's College men's volleyball team got out to a strong start in their 2024 campaign, but the Monarchs suffered their first setback for the season in a 3-0 loss at Widener University in their Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) opener. With the loss on Thursday evening, the Monarchs drop to 9-1 overall and 0-1 in the conference, while the Pride improved to 5-4 with a 1-0 conference mark.
 
King's (9-1, 1-0 MAC) came out of the gates firing, out scoring Widener (5-4, 1-0 MAC) 8-4 in the opening stretch thanks to a pair of kills by Logan Dougherty. The Pride battled back to tie the set at 9-9 before opening the scoring with a 7-3 run to take a 16-12 advantage. The Monarchs put up three consecutive points on a block from Gavin Gilhool and Greg Bousquet and an ace from Gilhool to pull within one, 16-15, but after trading scores the host Widener closed out the opening set with an 8-4 stretch to hand King's the 25-20 loss in set one.
 
The Pride took command early in the second, cruising to an 11-5 edge and not turning back in a 25-10 defeat of the Monarchs.
 
The Monarchs found their fire in the final set of the match as the competitive MAC contest featured 11 ties and four lead changes. Trading points early, the score was knotted at 13 a piece before kills from Dougherty and Rich Alvarez and an ace from Bousquet put King's ahead, 16-13. The Pride came back to force another stalemate at 18-18 which fueled six unanswered points from Widener as they went up, 23-18. A Pride service error and back-to-back aces from Ben Maskiell allowed the Monarchs to claw back within two, 23-21, but Widener had the final say with the final two points in the set to take the third, 25-21, and the MAC match, 3-0, over King's.
 
Dougherty paced the offensive effort with seven kills and added three digs, while Bousquet totaled six kills and four digs. Nick Greenawalt rounded out the top attackers with four kills and three digs. Maskiell handed out all 20 of the Monarchs assists in the loss, adding three aces and two blocks, while Gilhool had a strong outing with a team-high four blocks and two aces. Additionally, the defense saw Mike Bizzoco and Derek Perkins deliver three-dig performances each.
 
Widener was led by Matthew Christ with 13 kills on 22 attempts, hitting .364 for the match, with three aces and two blocks, while Josh Matchett recorded 30 assists, five digs, and three aces. Additionally, Christian Wannamaker led the defense with eight digs.
 
King's recorded 20 assists on their 21 team kills and were narrowly edged in the blocks column, 6-5, by the Pride.
 
The Monarchs will continue their road stretch on Sunday afternoon, traveling to Brooklyn, N.Y. to take on Mount Saint Vincent and the host Pratt Institute on Feb. 18. Action starts at 1:00 p.m.