Men's Volleyball Nipped in GNAC Quarterfinals

Providence, R.I.– The Johnson & Wales University men's volleyball posted a thrilling 3-2 victory against Lasell College in the first round of the 2013 Great Northeast Athletic Conference tournament at the Wildcat Center on Tuesday evening. JWU posted a 25-19 win in the first set before back-to-back 25-22 wins by Lasell put the Lasers up 2-1.  JWU forced a fifth and deciding set after a 25-20 win in the fourth set of the evening.  The Wildcats then posted a 15-11 win en route to the 3-2 victory.

Johnson & Wales was led by junior Shawn Kennedy (West Barnstable, Mass.) with 24 kills, 10 digs and five blocks while freshman Ryan Kennedy (West Barnstable, Mass.) added 15 kills and three digs for the Wildcats.  Sophomore Don Dias (Scituate, R.I.) notched 12 kills and two blocks while sophomore J.J. Bessette (Coventry, R.I.) had 52 set assists in the victory for the Wildcats.

Sophomore Dan Raffol (Natick, Mass.) paced Lasell with 20 kills and six digs while sophomore Abdulrehman Kahn (Karachi, Pakistan) had nine kills for the Lasers.  Sophomore Matt Dugan (New Lenox, Ill.) tallied 36 set assists in the setback.

JWU raced out to a quick 8-3 lead in set one after a kill by sophomore Matt Jenkins (Damascus, Md.).  Lasell closed the gap to 21-18 after a service ace by Raffol.  It wouldn't be enough, however as JWU took the 25-19 victory.

In the second set, Lasell controlled the action early and capitalized on back-to-back JWU errors to take the 12-7 lead.  The Wildcats climbed back into the set and made the score 22-21 on a kill by Kennedy.  That would be as close as JWU would get though as Lasell held on for the 25-22 victory to knot the match at 1-1.

Lasell raced out to the early lead and held a 17-11 advantage after a kill by Caruso.  Again, the Wildcats rallied and cut the lead to 20-19 on a service ace by sophomore Don Dias (Scituate, R.I.).  Once again Lasell held off a JWU rally down the stretch and posted a 25-22 win to take the 2-1 lead in the contest.

The fourth set went back and forth with the score knotted 14-14 after a service error by Lasell.  The Wildcats then reeled off five straight points and took the 19-14 lead on a kill by Kennedy.  JWU then held on for the 25-20 lead to knot the match at 2-2

JWU dominated play early in the fifth set and led 8-2 on a kill by Kennedy.  Lasell responded with a 5-1 run of their own and cut the lead to 9-7 on a kill by Raffol.  It would not be enough though as Jenkins closed out the match with a kill to give the Wildcats the 15-11 win in the set and a 3-2 victory in the contest.

With the win Johnson & Wales improves to 13-18 for the season while to Lasell falls 13-15 on the year.  The loss wraps up the 2013 campaign for Lasell while Johnson & Wales will advance to the GNAC semifinals on Thursday, April 11th at Rivier at 7:00 p.m.