MADISON, NJ (Sepetember 25, 2026) - The King's College women's volleyball team opened MAC Freedom play in thrilling fashion on Tuesday evening, outlasting FDU-Florham in five sets at the Ferguson Recreation Center. After dropping the opening set 25-23, the Monarchs responded with back-to-back 26-24 and 25-23 victories before the Devils forced a decisive fifth with a 25-15 win in the fourth. King's ultimately prevailed 17-15 in the final frame to secure the 3-2 victory and improve to 6-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play.
Weronika Malinowski paced the Monarchs with a team-high 18 kills while adding 27 digs, while Bella Boylan finished with 13 kills and 19 digs. Emma Bolich turned in an efficient performance with 11 kills on a .370 hitting percentage and two solo blocks, and Lindsay Arezina added 10 kills. Izzy Deluco handed out a team-high 33 assists to go along with 11 digs, while Ariela Towsey recorded 26 assists, four service aces and 12 digs. Riley McArdle anchored the defense with a team-best 33 digs as King's totaled 128 on the night.
King's came out strong in the opening set, building a 16-10 advantage behind a balanced attack. FDU-Florham battled back to tie the frame at 19-19 before the two sides traded points down the stretch. The Monarchs evened the score at 23-23, but the Devils took the final two points to claim the opener, 25-23.
The Monarchs found themselves trailing 11-6 in the second set before mounting a comeback. King's eventually tied the frame at 13-13 and later used a three-point run to turn an 18-17 deficit into a 20-18 lead. FDU-Florham fought back to even the set at 23, but Malinowski and Hannah Swinsburg delivered kills before a Devils attack error secured the 26-24 victory and evened the match.
King's jumped out to a 5-0 advantage in the third before FDU-Florham worked its way back and eventually took a 20-18 lead. The Monarchs answered with four straight points, highlighted by three consecutive Malinowski kills, to regain the advantage at 22-20. The Devils tied the frame again at 23-23, but King's battled through the late pressure to take the set 25-23 and move ahead 2-1 in the match.
FDU-Florham responded in the fourth, pulling away to take the frame 25-15 and send the match to a fifth set. With the conference opener hanging in the balance, neither side could create separation in a decisive frame that featured eight tie scores and four lead changes. The Monarchs ultimately came through in extra points, taking the fifth 17-15 to complete the five-set thriller and begin MAC Freedom play with a victory.
The Monarchs return to action this Thursday, September 17 when they host Dickinson College at 7:00 p.m..
--MONARCHS--
