ROCHESTER, NY – Several times this year the Johnson & Wales University men's volleyball team has been on verge of upsetting a top-15 team. Unfortunately, the Wildcats are still looking for that victory as No. 9 Elmira escaped with a 3-2 (22-25, 25-22, 25-20, 19-25, 15-1) victory at the Golden Flyer Tournament. JWU dropped its second match of the day, 3-0 (25-21, 39-37, 25-22), to Medaille.

The losses dropped the Wildcats to 2-7 on the year. Five of the seven losses have come to ranked teams.

Leading the JWU offensive attack in both matches was junior outside hitter Kyle MacKnight (East Northport, NY). He had 13 kills against Elmira and six more versus Medaille. Freshman setter Cameron Ponce (San Jose, Calif.) recorded 29 assists and nine kills versus Elmira then 14 assists and six kills against Medaille.

Johnson & Wales out-blocked both opponents, but both EC and MC out-dug the Wildcats. JWU hit .207 in the opener, but was limited to .034 in the nightcap.

After dropping the second and third sets against Elmira, the Wildcats went on a 6-1 run to close out the fourth set. Ponce, Kyle Eva (Charlestown, RI) and Rakeem Malone (St. Thomas, USVI) all recorded kills down the stretch. JWU was down 7-2 in the final set, but rallied to tie the deciding frame, 11-11. However, JWU committed a service and hitting error and had a pair attacks blocked.

The second set of the Medaille was a wild ride. Johnson & Wales had six set points, but also had to fight off seven set points for MC. A service error put Medaille up 38-37 then a Stephen Ebert kill ended the marathon set.

The Wildcats are back on the court Saturday for day two of the Golden Flyer Tournament. Johnson & Wales will face fifth-ranked host Nazareth at 11 a.m. followed by a 3 pm contest with D'Youville.