WILKES-BARRE, PA (February 27, 2025) -- The King's College men's volleyball team took on Eastern University for a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) matchup on Thursday night. The Monarchs fell 0-3 to the Eagles in McGrane Gymnasium.
 
Eastern (13-6, 1-1 MAC) took an early 9-5 lead when King's (10-7, 0-2 MAC) made a 4-0 jolt to even the score thanks to Logan Dougherty, Rich Alvarez, and Ben Maskiell. The visitors answered back with three straight tallies before the Monarchs tacked on a 7-3 run that included a kill and back-to-back aces by Dougherty. The visitors were not going down as they constructed another 5-0 burst to make the score 20-16. From then on, the two MAC opponents began trading points. King's made one last 3-0 push that comprised of kills by Alvarez, Logan Place, and Greg Bousquet. Eastern took the first set 25-22.
 
The Eagles maintained their energy to start the second set. The Monarchs continued to pester their visitors as they looked to create their own momentum. It was 15-8 when King's produced an 8-4 spurt that comprised of Bousquet, Place, Gavin Gilhool, Dougherty, and Alvarez to get within three of the enemy. Eastern retaliated back, but the Monarchs continued to fight with two kills by Dougherty and Alex Martellacci to keep the set alive at 24-19. After a final point by the visitors, King's lost the second set 25-19.
 
The Monarchs came back from the break with vengeance as the squad recorded five straight tallies. The Eagles responded with a 15-6 run to gain a four-point cushion from their hosts. King's stayed composed and constructed a 6-1 burst to regain the lead. The teams went back-and-forth soon after with neither allowing the other to score more than two tallies. Eastern eventually took the third and final set, 25-22.
 
King's ended with 36 kills on 36 assists, five aces, five blocks, and 30 digs. Dougherty paced the Monarchs with 14 kills and seven digs. Bousquet was right behind with nine kills, two blocks, and three digs. Makiell dished out 33 helpers with three aces and four digs. Aiden Glasgow collected nine digs to end the evening.
 
Eastern finished with 39 kills on 39 assists with six aces, seven blocks, and 25 digs. Connor Tucholski pushed the Eagles with 11 points on eight kills and four blocks. Max Bagileo collected 10 kills. Ronan Landis passed out 20 assists and Josh Hrabosky had 18 of his own. Symir Byrd fueled the defense with 10 digs while collecting seven kills on the night.
 
The Monarchs are back in McGrane Gymnasium with a Saturday tri-match against Neumann and Elizabethtown at 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. on March 1^st. The crew will have a road match on Wednesday, March 5^th at 6 p.m. against Drew.