The men's volleyball team notched a 3-0 (25-15, 29-27, 25-22) win over Newbury at the Live Free Or Die Tournament hosted by Daniel Webster on Saturday.

Johnson & Wales junior captain Ryan Kennedy (West Barnstable, Mass.) narrowly missed a double-double with 10 kills and eight digs while sophomore Kyle MacKnight (Northport, N.Y.) had 16 digs for the Wildcats.  Senior J.J. Bessette (Coventry, R.I.) notched 36 set assists and seven digs in the victory.

Danny Tiner led the way for Newbury with 12 kills and 11 digs while Michael Holihan had 36 set assists in the loss for the Nighthawks.

JWU took control of the first set early and raced out to the 14-6 lead to force a Newbury timeout.  The Wildcats hit a remarkable .400 for the first set en route to the 25-15 victory.

The Wildcats led the entire second set, including an 18-14 lead after a kill by senior Chris Espinola (Derry, N.H.).  Newbury then went on a 7-1 run, capped by a kill from Tiner to take the 21-19 lead.  JWU responded, however and used a pair of kills by junior Kyle Eva (Charlestown, R.I.) down to stretch to take the 29-27 win and a two set lead.

JWU led from wire to wire in the third set and used five kills from Espinola in the set to secure the 25-22 win and take the match 3-0.

The Wildcats will return to action on Thursday, February 5th when they host nationally-ranked MIT at 6:00 p.m.