WILKES-BARRE, PA (March 1, 2025) -- The King's College men's volleyball team split their Saturday tri-match against Neumann and Elizabethtown in McGrane Gymnasium. The Monarchs defeated the Neumann Knights 3-0 and had a tough battle against the Elizabethtown Blue Jays but fell 1-3 to end the afternoon.
 
vs. Neumann – W, 3-0 (25-13, 25-12, 25-15):
King's (11-7) controlled the pace of play early, storming out to a 15-7 lead over Neumann (6-6). After trading points on a 4-4 stretch, the Monarchs outscored the Knights 6-2 down the stretch behind a block from Ben Maskiell and Gavin Gilhool, a kill from Logan Dougherty, and a kill by Maskiell to secure the first set, 25-13.
 
It was a similar story in the second with the Monarchs up 9-5. The Knights put together a good stretch, edging out King's 2-1, but the hosts rattled off 10 unanswered points as five different Monarchs recorded a point to jump ahead, 20-7. Neumann made a push at the end, but it was too little too late as a kill from Shawn Hill put the set away, 25-12, to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The third was a back-and-forth affair early with King's up, 11-9, before opening the set with a 12-1 rally to boost their advantage to 23-10. Neumann closed within nine, 24-15, but a Knights error wrapped up the set with King's on top, 25-15, to win the match, 3-0.
 
Dougherty led the way with 10 kills and three aces, while Logan Aikens added five on nine attempts to hit .556 for the match. Greg Bousquet totaled five kills, four blocks, and four digs, while Gilhool added three blocks. Aiden Glasgow paced the balanced defense with seven digs, while Mason Lesher added six. Ben Maskiell padded the stat sheet with 23 assists, six digs, three kills, and two aces.
 
Trey Edmonds paced Neumann with eight kills, while Christian DeMarco had 14 digs. Noah Banaag dished out 11 assists as well.
 
King's hit .288 for the match with 27 assists on their 29 kills, while the defense limited Neumann to a -.105 hitting percentage with 26 attack errors. The Monarchs also had the edge in aces (6-1), blocks (10-1), and digs (29-28).
 
vs. Elizabethtown – L, 1-3 (26-24, 21-25, 21-25, 24-26):
King's (11-8) scored three straight points to begin the first set. Elizabethtown (13-5) answered back with 7-2 jolt to take the lead away from the Monarchs. From then on, the crowd witnessed the two teams go back-and-forth as the score evened several times. King's were down 20-23 when the squad made one last 6-2 push that included Alex Martellacci, Gavin Gilhool, and Greg Bousquet. The Monarchs celebrated a 26-24 win.
 
The second set was much like the first with 11 ties. The Blue Jays controlled much of the match until the score was 14-12 when King's produced a 7-4 burst thanks to Dougherty, Gilhool, Logan Aikens, and Ben Maskiell. Elizabethtown was not going down silently and made a lasting 6-2 run to take the second set, 25-21.
 
The Blue Jays had a 10-6 start to maintain their momentum. The Monarchs pestered their visitors by adding four straight tallies to deadlock the third set 10-10. The enemies clashed once more by trading a series of runs. Bousquet made one last kill before Elizabethtown made the final blow. King's dropped the third set, 21-25.  
 
It was a must win set for the Monarchs and the team came back with vengeance. King's created a 7-1 that included Maskiell, Bousquet, and Dougherty to force an Elizabethtown timeout. The score was 12-6 when the Blue Jays produced six straight points to tie the game 12-12. The two adversaries began trading tallies as the match dwindled down. The crowd went wild when King's had an 8-4 run to keep the set alive at 24-24. Elizabethtown edged the Monarchs, 26-24.
 
Dougherty sparked the King's offense 16 kills with five digs. Bousquet collected 12 kills and seven digs. Maskiell dished out 36 assists while tacking on two blocks. On the defensive end, Gilhool fueled the team with five blocks and Aiden Glasgow had a team-high of 12 digs.
 
Arun Gopinath paced the Blue Jays with 21 kills. Mason Boyer secured a double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs, while Logan Smith also had a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs. Braydon Ambruster dished out 50 of the team's 63 assists with four blocks. Dustin Hagin had 11 digs to end the day.
 
The Monarchs are back on the road to take on Drew on Wednesday, March 5^th at 6 p.m. The crew will return to McGrane Gymnasium on Saturday, March 8^th for a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) matchup against Messiah at 12 p.m. before heading into spring break.