WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University women's volleyball team swept cross-town rival King's College in a Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) match Tuesday night at the Marts Center (25-22, 26-24, 25-22).

Wilkes improved to 2-4 in the conference and 6-16 overall with the victory. It was the Colonels first win in the series between the two sides since 2014 as King's had won the previous six meetings. King's dropped to 0-5 in the MAC Freedom and 13-6 overall with the loss.

The Monarchs made the first run of the match to open a 10-5 lead in the first set to force a Colonels timeout. A three-point run for Wilkes made the score 16-12 and forced the first time out from King's. The Colonels kept the run going following the break with two Nicole Fitzpatrick (New Hampton, NY/Minisink Valley) kills and then an error on the Monarchs to tie the match 16-16. The Monarchs then went ahead 19-16 before a Fitzpatrick kill and then the junior put away another powerful swing to make it 20-19. Two attack errors by King's put Wilkes back ahead 21-20 and forced the Monarchs second timeout. Another error and an ace by Alexa Cassel (Mount Joy, PA/Lower Dauphin) made it 23-20 Colonels. Hope Ousey (Exton, PA/Henderson) put away a kill to make it 24-22 and the Colonels closed the 25-22 first set victory on an attack error by King's.

The second set remained tight across the early points with an Emily Gentzel (Yaphank, NY/Bellport) ace tied the score at 10-10. Neither team could gain a more than a two-point lead until King's went ahead 18-15 and forced a Colonels timeout. The Colonels went on a four-point run to take a 20-19 lead as Ousey and Alexis Reedy (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra Area) connected on kills during the run. Momentum swung back to King's as the visitors scored the next three points to go ahead 22-20. King's gained a 23-21 lead before an attack error and Fitzpatrick kill tied the set again and forced King's to call a timeout. Fitzpatrick gave Wilkes the 24-23 lead but an attack error on the Colonels pushed the match to extra points. Fitzpatrick and Ousey then put away consecutive kills as Wilkes won 26-24 to go ahead 2-0 in the match.

The Colonels first block of the match gave them a 4-1 lead in set three as Sierra Hines (Wilkes-Barre, PA/Holy Redeemer) and Cassel got up for the roof. A kill by Allison Murie (Mays Landing, NJ/Oakcrest) and two consecutive aces by Gentzel made the score 11-6 and forced a Monarchs timeout. A bad set by King's and two kills by Reedy kept the run going as Gentzel followed with yet another ace as the Colonels went ahead 15-6 with a 7-0 run in total. Fitzpatrick put away her 19th kill of the night on a back-row attack before exiting as Emily Lass (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East) entered for her. Lass proceeded to pick up two kills within three points to make it 18-9 Colonels. A four-point run by the Monarchs made the score 19-14 and forced Wilkes to call a timeout. King's continued to close making it 20-17 but then a service error by the Monarchs and an emphatic kill by Ousey made it 22-17 Colonels. Another Ousey kill made it 23-19. A kill and ace by King's forced the Colonels final timeout with the 23-21 lead. A King's service error gave Wilkes match point and on the Colonels second attempt Cassel went over on two with an attack to seal the 25-22 win and the sweep.

Fitzpatrick, the reigning MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Week, finished with 19 kills and added nine digs to also lead the team. Ousey finished with seven kills. Cassel directed the offense with 34 assists and finished with two blocks along with Hines. Ali Yordy (Fairfield, PA/Fairfield Area) added eight digs and Gentzel led Wilkes with four aces.

Joy Kindall led King's with 10 kills and four blocks while Morgan Williams had a match-high 12 digs.

Wilkes finished the match with 44 kills compared to King's 31, seven aces to six, and 41 digs to 37. King's led 5-2 in blocks and had a .202 hitting percentage compared to the Colonels .180.

The Colonels are off for the next week, returning to action for another MAC Freedom match when they face DeSales University in Center Valley, Pa. on Wednesday, October 19 at 7:00 p.m.