Box Score The Johnson & Wales Men's volleyball team suffered a 3 set defeat (21 – 25, 22 – 25, and 22 – 25) tonight at the hands of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) #4 seed Emmanuel College. Johnson & Wales, the #5 seed in the GNAC playoffs, entered the contest 20 - 10 and was looking to advance in the conference playoffs, but ran into a sharper Emmanuel team that made fewer errors on the night.
The Wildcats were paced by junior Ryan Kennedy (West Barnstable, MA) who had 13 kills and 9 digs, while sophomore Brendan Baker (Providence, RI) had 12 kills and 5 digs in the contest. Senior J.J. Bessette (Coventry, RI) accumulated 41 set assists and 5 digs, while junior Kyle Eva (Charlestown, RI) went for 9 kills and 2 blocks.
The Saints were paced by Junior Barrett Wingard (York, PA) with 14 kills and 3 blocks, while senior Ashanti Jackson (Sacramento, CA) added 9 kills and 3 blocks to the successful outing. junior Garrett McGarry (Chicago, IL) tallied 5 blocks while junior Julian Hess (Santa Monica, CA) added 4 blocks. Senior Sean Baxley (Saint James, N.Y.) had 33 assists and 6 digs that helped propel Emmanuel into the semi-finals of the GNAC playoffs.
The match was tight the entire time with lead changes and ties all throughout the sets. In the end, it was in the middles points where Johnson & Wales would lose control and then trail. The Wildcats, playing catch up, clawed close to even late in each set. On this night, however, the Saints were able to close the deal on all three sets and thwart any late set rallies from the Wildcats.
With the loss, Johnson & Wales finishes the season at 20 – 11 overall. Emmanuel improves to 11 – 11 overall and now have a date with the #1 seed in the GNAC playoffs in Nashua, NH. with the Rivier Raiders on Thursday, April 9th at 7pm.
