The men's volleyball team split a Great Northeast Athletic Conference tri-match against Rivier and #16 Lasell at the Wildcat Center on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats fell in a five-set battle to Rivier 3-2 (16-25, 25-21, 25-23, 23-25, 10-15) in the opening match of the day. The second match of the afternoon saw Rivier earn the sweep with a 3-1 (20-25, 25-15, 25-16, 30-28) victory before JWU wrapped up the tri-match with a 3-1 (20-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-20) win over the Lasers.

In the first match against Rivier, the Wildcats were paced by senior Don Dias (Scituate, R.I.) with 13 kills and one ace while hitting an impressive .391. Sophomore Brendan Baker (Providence, R.I.) and junior Kyle Eva (Charlestown, R.I.) were also in double-figures for JWU with 12 kills and 10 kills, respectively, while Baker also gathered eight digs in the setback. The Raiders were led by Matt Tutino (Manorville, N.Y.) with 15 kills and five digs while Chris Markuson (Cupertino, Calif.) registered 14 kills, eight digs and three solo blocks. Senior J.J. Bessette (Coventry, R.I.) collected 44 set assists for JWU while Tyler Blank (Rochester, N.Y.) had 50 assists for Rivier.

Markuson led the way with 16 kills, 12 digs and two aces while Grant Andler (Chicago, Ill.) had 11 kills and Tutino connected for double-digit kills again with ten. Blank picked up 46 set assists in the win for Rivier. For the Lasers, Jeffrey Vautrin (Chicopee, Mass.) posted a match-high 20 kills and also served two aces while Dan Raffol (Natick, Mass.) registered ten kills and seven digs. Andrew Glenn (Westport, Conn.) gathered 40 set assists in the setback for Lasell.

Finishing up the day against Lasell, Baker led the way for JWU with 13 kills and six digs while senior Ryan Kennedy (West Barnstable, Mass.) grabbed double-digit kills with ten. Bessette tallied 39 set assists and Eva put down four service aces en route to the Wildcats first win against a nationally ranked opponent. Vautrin paced the Lasers with a game-high 18 kills and Glenn tied for the match high in set assists with 39.

Johnson & Wales improves to 16-7 overall on the year and 4-3 in GNAC play.  With the sweep, Rivier is now 11-9 this season and 6-1 while Lasell falls to 17-7 and 5-3 in league play.  The Wildcats are back in action on Thursday, March 26^th when they host Emmanuel in a GNAC tri-match starting at 7:00 p.m.