ELMIRA, NY (January 25, 2025) -- The King's College men's volleyball team went 0-2 on Saturday afternoon. The Monarchs fell 3-1 to Buffalo State and lost 3-0 to Elmira in Speidel Gymnasium.
 
vs. Buffalo State, L 1-3 (21-25, 26-24, 20-25, 21-25):
King's had an early 5-1 lead to start the first set of the day. Buffalo State would try to send blows to the Monarchs, but the team maintained a two-point edge. King's was ahead 13-9 when the Bengals made a 9-1 jolt to take the lead. Though the Monarchs were not going to fight quietly and returned with their own 4-1 run that included two kills by Logan Dougherty. Ultimately Buffalo State regained their momentum and after a 6-3 burst, the Bengals won the first set 25-21.
 
The second set was a battle as the crowd witnessed six tied scores. It was 5-5 when King's broke away with a 5-2 spurt that comprised of kills by Rich Alvarez and Greg Bousquet. Buffalo State would try to pester the Monarchs, but the squad stayed composed. The Bengals made a roaring 6-2 comeback to tie it back up to 15-15. Though King's responded back with their own 5-2 run thanks to Bousquet and Dougherty. The set was neck-and-neck towards the end with Buffalo State scoring two straight points to deadlock the match at 24-24. The Monarchs prevailed by scoring two unanswered tallies to secure a 26-24 victory.
 
The start of third set was in King's favor with a 3-0 lead. The Bengals slowly began making small runs to shorten their deficit, but the Monarchs withheld them from taking the advantage. King's was up 10-8 as Buffalo State snuck in a 4-0 run to take over the set. The two adversaries began trading tallies from then on, neither allowing more than two points to be added to the scoreboard. The Bengals made one last 5-1 jolt to take the third set 25-20.
 
The fourth and final set was much like the second with six tied scores. King's created a 4-1 burst to tie it at 11-11. Though Buffalo State stayed in control for the remainder of the set. The Monarchs made one last 4-1 run before the Bengals sealed the win, 25-21.
 
King's finished with 35 kills, 33 assists, nine aces, four blocks, and 29 digs. Dougherty led the team with 15 kills and Bousquet followed with eight. Ben Maskiell dished out 30 helpers and five aces. Aiden Glasgow collected eight digs and Mason Lesher had five.
 
Buffalo State's Gavin Wilczewski had 21 kills and eight digs. Kaden Strong and Xzavier Vanderstouw 10 kills each. Jackson Stang had 50 of the team's 55 assists.
 
vs. Elmira, L 3-0 (22-25, 15-25, 27-29):
It was neck-and-neck in the first set with 11 ties and four lead changes. It was tied 10-10 when Elmira scored three straight points. That did not scare the Monarchs as they answered with an 8-3 push that included four kills by Greg Bousquet to make it 18-16. The Soaring Eagles came right back with a 9-4 jolt to take the first set 25-22.
 
Elmira maintained their momentum and controlled much of the second set. Every time King's scored the Soaring Eagles had every answer. Elmira won 25-15.
 
The third and final set was much like the first with 11 ties and five lead changes. The Monarchs were down 4-7 when they made 5-1 run with back-to-back aces by Gavin Gilhool. The Soaring Eagles responded back with an 9-3 jolt to take back control. King's was not going down without a fight and came back with a vengeful 10-4 push that included tallies by Luke Hammond, Alex Martellacci, David Hernandez, Gilhool, Dougherty, and Logan Aikens to make the score 23-21. From then on, the teams began trading points and after a kill by Martellacci, it was deadlocked once more at 27-27. Elmira produced the final kill and remained victorious 29-27.
 
King's ended with 21 kills, 22 assists, four aces, six blocks, and 17 digs. Dougherty had eight kills with four blocks. Bousquet collected five kills of his own with six digs. Ben Maskiell passed out 18 assists and four digs.
 
Elmira's Luke Jata earned 13 kills with a hitting percentage of .524 and four digs. Max Cohen produced 24 assists and four digs.
 
The Monarchs are back on the road at Saint Elizabeth on Wednesday, January 29^th at 6 p.m. The squad will compete in a road tri-match against Manhattanville and Russell Sage at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday, February 1^st.