GRANTHAM, PA (March 18, 2026) --The King's College men's volleyball team took on a nationally ranked challenge on Wednesday night, falling in straight sets to No. 2 Messiah University on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena. After their Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) opponent came out with a 25-6 victory in the first set, the Monarchs hung around with the Messiah in the second before falling 25-19 and 25-17 to close out the match. The loss drops King's to 7-12 overall and 0-3 in the MAC. Across the net, the Falcons improve to 22-2 on the season and 5-0 in conference action.
 
The opening set quickly tilted in Messiah's favor as the Falcons used a long early run built around serving pressure and strong blocking to open a sizable gap. Brian Weaver finally snapped a 10-0 run by the Falcons with a kill off a set by Ben Maskiell to put the Monarchs on the board.
 
Weaver ultimately accounted for all three King's kills in the first set, connecting with Maskiell twice in the frame and adding another down the stretch. Despite those finishes, Messiah continued to add separation and closed the set with a late push to take the opener, 25-6.
 
The second set unfolded with much more balance in the early exchanges. After Messiah opened the scoring, King's answered immediately as Maskiell recorded a kill off a set from Alex Martellacci to level the score. Greg Bousquet followed with a clean finish on the side to give the Monarchs early momentum. Weaver extended the King's push with a service ace and Bousquet added another kill as the Monarchs moved in front 4-2.
 
King's maintained possession of the lead through the 7-6 point before Messiah responded with a short run to regain the edge. The Monarchs stayed close through the middle of the set, however, as Martellacci began to find rhythm offensively, scoring on multiple sideout swings as the Monarchs traded points with the Falcons.
 
The score tightened again as King's continued to generate points at the net. A block from Weaver and Alex Schoch helped slow Messiah's offense and a Martellacci kill later pulled the Monarchs ahead at 15-14. King's remained within reach behind steady sideouts from Martellacci and Bousquet, but Messiah used a late multi‑point run, aided by service pressure, to create separation and close the set, 25-19.

The third set opened with both teams exchanging points in the early rallies. Messiah struck first before Schoch answered with a kill off a Maskiell set to even the score. Moving forward in the set, Martellacci posted consecutive kills as King's stayed within a point through the opening sequence, while service errors on both sides kept the frame tight.
 
Messiah created separation with a short run midway through the set, stringing together several points to push ahead. King's responded as a block from Maskiell and Antonio Tavarez helped slow the Falcon momentum. Nathan Yelinko followed with a pair of kills off Maskiell sets, trimming the deficit to five and keeping the Monarchs within reach at 16-11.
 
The Falcons extended the lead late with another sustained run. Weaver added a kill during the closing points, but Messiah converted the final rallies to take the third set, 25-17 and complete the sweep.
 
Martellacci led the Monarchs offensively for the match with eight kills, while Weaver finished with three kills and a service ace. Bousquet added three kills and Yelinko contributed two. Maskiell directed the offense with 12 assists and added a block, while Schoch led King's at the net with 2.5 total blocks. Aiden Glasgow and Martelacci anchored the back row with a team‑high five digs apiece
 
The Monarchs return to the court on Friday, hosting Neumann University in a nonconference matchup. First serve against the Knights is slated for 5:00 p.m.