The men's volleyball team dropped a pair of decisions against nationally ranked opponents on Saturday afternoon at the Springfield Invitational.  The Wildcats opened the day with a 3-0 (23-25, 15-25, 17-25) setback against third-ranked New Paltz and wrapped up the tournament with a 3-0 (14-25, 18-25, 17-25) loss to second-ranked Springfield.

In the match against New Paltz, senior Shawn Kennedy (West Barnstable, Mass.) led the way for JWU with eight kills and six digs while sophomore Kyle Eva (Charlestown, R.I.) notched five kills and four blocks for the Wildcats.  Junior J.J. Bessette (Coventry, R.I.) recorded 20 set assists in the setback.

Against Springfield, Ryan Kennedy tallied 12 kills and four digs while Shawn Kennedy notched six kills, four digs and a block.  Bessette had 18 set assists and three digs while senior Alex Viera (Bay Shore, N.Y.) had eight digs in the loss for the Wildcats.  Greg Woods had 12 kills to lead the way for Springfield while Luis Garcia Rubio tallied 34 set assists in the win for the Pride.

With the losses Johnson & Wales falls to 6-5 for the season.  JWU will return to action on Tuesday, February 18^th when they travel to Anna Maria for a Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest starting at 7:00 p.m.