The men's volleyball team suffered a 3-1 (16 – 25, 12 – 25, 25 – 23, and 14 – 25) loss tonight at the hands of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) leading Rivier Raiders.  Johnson & Wales entered the contest 19-8 and was looking to improve on their GNAC playoff positioning, but ran into a disciplined Raider team that executed their game plan.

The Wildcats were paced by sophomore Brendan Baker (Providence, RI) who had 10 kills, while senior Don Dias (Scituate, RI) had eight kills and five blocks in the contest.  Senior J.J. Bessette (Coventry, RI) registered 30 set assists and an ace, while sophomore Kyle MacKnight (Northport, NY) dug nine attacks in the effort. 

The Raiders were paced by senior Matt Tutino (Manorville, NY) with 11 kills while senior Sam Kazlas (Allentown, PA) added 10 kills to the successful campaign. Grant Andler (Chicago, IL) had eight kills and three blocks while senior Cam Phegley-Walker (Los Angeles, CA) added three aces. Sophomore Tyler Blank (Rochester, N.Y.) had 34 assists and junior Mike Hovnanian (Methuen, MA) had nine digs.

The first set featured a precise play by the home team, while the Wildcats struggled to find their footing.  In set two, Rivier pressed their advantage while errors plagued the Wildcats.  Set three featured the best volleyball of the night with both teams playing at a high level.  The Wildcats were victorious in the set and utilized their blocking ability to get it done.  The final set featured the two teams trading leads early, but Rivier pulled away in the middle of the set before taking the 25-14 victory to secure the 3-1 win. 

With the loss, Johnson & Wales drops to 19 – 9 overall and 7 – 5 in conference play.  Rivier improves to 17 – 9 overall and 12 – 1 in conference action.  The Wildcats will finish the regular season with a tri-match at Mount Ida that will also feature the Saints from Emmanuel College.  Rivier will host Wentworth Institute of Technology to conclude their regular season and will get a bye in the first round of the GNAC playoffs after securing the number one seed