BOSTON –Trying to get a home game during the first round of the GNAC Tournament, the Johnson & Wales University men's volleyball team started well against at Emmanuel, but couldn't hold on. The Wildcats lost 3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 28-30, 19-25) to the Saints. JWU dropped its second match of the day, 3-0 (14-25, 27-29, 23-25) to Lasell.           

Johnson & Wales: 14-15, 6-7 GNAC 

JWU Statistical Leaders:
Cameron Ponce: 38 Assists, 11 Digs vs. Emmanuel
Alex Seda: 11 Kills vs. Emmanuel
Kanila Chang: 10 Kills, .533 hitting % vs. Emmanuel

Of Note:
The Saints pulled within 24-22 in the first set, but the Wildcats got a big kill from freshman Alex Seda (San Juan, PR) to win the set. The tables were turned in the second set, as JWU was down 24-22, but this time Seda had an attack error to give EC the set.

The third set was a marathon with JWU coming up with points to tie the set at 23-23, 24-24, 25-25 and 26-26. The Wildcats had a set point, 27-26, but Erik English got the kill for Emmanuel. The Wildcats fended off two more set points before a Saints' ace ended the set.

Johnson & Wales had three players with double-figure kills. Seda and sophomore Kanila Chang (Orlando, Fla.) each had 11, followed by 10 from senior Rakeem Malone (St. Thomas, USVI). Setter Cameron Ponce (San Jose, Calif.) was one of his season-high with 38 assists and added 11 digs for his 10^th double-double of the year.

Coming off a tough match with Emmanuel, the Wildcats struggled in the first set against Lasell. The Lasers had a .500-to-.074 hitting percentage advantage in the first set. The second and third sets were much closer with Lasell coming up with the key points down the stretch.

Matt LaVasseur (Salem, NH) led the team with six kills. Setter Jason Rhee (Aurora, Colo.) had 15 assists. Kyle MacKnight (East Northport, NY) was top at seven digs.

Up Next:
The GNAC Tournament starts on Tuesday. Johnson & Wales is back on the road at Emmanuel for a 7 pm.