ASTON, PA (March 19, 2024) -- A record-setting team performance lifts the King's College men's volleyball team to a reverse sweep over Neumann (12-8) on Tuesday night. The Monarchs move on to 16-5 overall in their 3-2 win over the Knights in the Mirenda Center.
 
Neumann took the lead early in the opening set with a 7-4 start. King's looked to chip away at their deficit, but the hosts continued to answer back. It became a point-for-point game when the score was 14-9 as each team was trading tallies. The Monarchs made a late 8-3 push that included kills by Logan Dougherty (Fy.) and Rich Alvarez (Jr.) to get within one point of their opponent. The Knights ultimately won 25-23.
 
The second set was an interesting one with 10 ties and five lead changes. Every time Neumann scored, King's were right there with them looking to take over. The score was 11-10 when the Monarchs made a 4-1 jolt to make a four-point cushion thanks to kills by Greg Bousquet (So.) and Dougherty. The Knights continued to pester their visitors throughout the set and Neumann created a five-point swing to take the win from King's. The Monarchs were defeated 25-23.
 
King's looked to not go down silently and had the lead for much of the third set. The score was tied 14-14 when the Monarchs had a 7-0 run that comprised of tallies made by Alvarez, Nick Greenawalt (Sr.), and David Hernandez (So.). From then on King's maintained their momentum and won 25-18.
 
The fourth set was much like the third as the Monarchs had a 22-8 edge against their adversaries. The Knights made a last 6-2 effort, but Bousquet made the final kill for King's to take a 25-14 victory and force a fifth set matchup.
 
In the fifth and final set the Monarchs continued to push their momentum. King's created seven straight tallies that included Ben Maskiell (So.), Alvarez, Dougherty, and Bousquet to remain victorious and defeat Neumann 15-6.
 
As a team the Monarchs set new single-game records for a five-set match in kills with 61, in assists with 60, and in digs with 70. The squad also collected 10 blocks and had a hitting percentage of .313. Bousquet produced 17 kills and 13 digs. Greenawalt had 10 kills and 10 digs. Maskiell dished out 44 of the team's 60 assists while adding 14 digs, six kills, and had a hitting percentage of .545.
 
The Knights ended with 53 kills, 49 assists, five aces, 65 digs, and a hitting percentage of .128. Trey Edmonds sparked the offense with 17 kills. Dan Barckholtz passed out 44 of the teams 49 assists. On the defensive end, Brandon Baskerville and Christian Johnson had 17 digs each.
 
King's are back in McGrane Gymnasium for a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) matchup against Hood at 12 p.m. and will take on Drew at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 23^rd.  The crew will travel to Arcadia for a MAC contest on Wednesday, March 27^th at 7 p.m. before heading into Easter break.