CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Men's Volleyball returned to Curry Arena Friday evening with a matchup against King (TN). Sophomore Matthew Pilch had great success on offense with 17 kills to just three errors as he hit .400 on the evening. His performance was to no avail as Queens would drop the match in four sets (25-20, 25-27, 25-21, 25-18).

With the loss, Queens falls to 1-7 while King improves to 4-8.

MATCH SUMMARY
Queens found themselves down 8-4 but was short-lived as a pair of kills by Ananias Hayes combined with kills by Matthew Pilch and Fletcher Murphy cut the deficit to one. King would rebuild their momentum and take a five-point lead into the media timeout. Hayes and Pilch each added a kill that brought Queens within three, however the Tornado were able to keep the Royals at bay and take the first set, 25-20.
 
Both teams came out scrappy in the second set as there were three lead changes early on, leading to a 10-10 tie. The Tornado started to pull away but the Royals pulled them right back, as a 15-11 deficit was quickly erased, as an ace by Daniel Leitao knotted the score at 18 and forcing King to call its first timeout of the set. After finding themselves down two late, Pilch contributed a kill and a block assist alongside Leitao to re-claim the lead, 23-22. After trading points and tying it at 25, Murphy gave Queens set point with a sneaky kill from the middle before a Leitao ace propelled the Royals to a second set victory. 

Much like the second set, both squads went toe-for-toe all set. King tied the match at 10 early on and would build a bit of a lead before a fierce comeback by the Royals would tie the match once again at 20. 
 
The Royals found themselves trailing 8-4 early in the fourth set but after Hayes smashed a kill cross-court, he stepped behind the service line and served Queens right back in the game; sparking a four-point run which included three aces by him and put the team ahead 10-9. The Tornado put together another run which put them back ahead by five; a lead that Queens was unable to re-gain as King would go on to take the set and ultimately the match.

COACH'S WORDS
"Our outside hitters really came to play" said head coach Jeremy Price. "Ananias Hayes was outstanding; 10 kills, hitting over .300 and serving six aces really helped keep us close and take that second set. Matthew Pilch was phenomenal tonight. His stats speak for itself, I can't say enough about his efforts tonight. We need to improve on our blocking; three blocks throughout a four-set match will not get the job done. We have a quick turnaround before Barton tomorrow night and look forward to improving from tonight's performance".

BY THE NUMBERS

• Matthew Pilch had a stellar offensive night, notching a career-high 17 kills en route to a .400 hitting clip.
• Also finding success on the offensive side was Ananias Hayes who smashed 10 kills.
• Libero Guillermo Jordan held down the back line with team-high 10 digs. 
• Brian Schwob did a nice job distributing the ball, dishing out 37 assists on the evening.

NEXT UP
The Royals hit the road for an in-state clash with Barton tomorrow, February 4 at 6PM.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Be sure to follow the Royals men's volleyball program on Instagram and Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest news and updates surrounding the team. Fans are also encouraged to follow Queens Athletics on social media @QueensAthletics to follow all of the Royals sports in action.