MEN'S VOLLEYBALL COMEBACK FALLS SHORT IN 3-2 LOSS TO JWU

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - JWU senior J.J. Bessette (Coventry, R.I.) set a new Johnson & Wales career record for set assists in a thrilling 3-2 (25-17, 25-23, 18-25, 23-25, 15-12) win over Emmanuel in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest at the Wildcat Center on Thursday night.

Senior Ryan Kennedy (West Barnstable, Mass.) and sophomore Brendan Baker (Providence, R.I.) each tallied 13 kills for the Wildcats while Bessette registered 46 assists and eight digs in the victory. Senior Don Dias(Scituate, R.I.) and classmate Chris Espinola (Derry, N.H.) also registered double digit kills with eleven and ten, respectively, for JWU. 

Senior Austin Cockerill (Dairen, Conn.) paced the Saints with a career-high 17 kills and junior Drew Jordan (Braintree, Mass.) collected a career-high 15 kills, nine digs and a service ace in the setback. Senior setter Sean Baxley (Saint James, N.Y.) dished out a career-high 59 assists for Emmanuel, good for a tie for the seventh highest single match assist total in EC Men's Volleyball history.

In the opening set, Emmanuel jumped out to a 4-2 lead before the Wildcats rattled off five straight points that was finished off by a Baker service ace to take a 7-4 lead. JWU used a few more short runs in the set to extend their lead to eight, 20-12, thanks to a service ace by freshman Kanila Chang (Orlando, Fla.). A kill by Baker on the final point of the first set gave Bessette his record breaking 3,640^th career set assist and the 25-17 win.

The second set saw back-and-forth action throughout before Kennedy served the Wildcats out of a 19-15 deficit and to a 21-19 advantage. Espinola secured the final point of set number two ensuring the 25-23 win and 2-0 advantage after two.

The Saints came marching back in the third and fourth sets to tie the match up at 2-2. In the fifth and final set, JWU took a one point edge ten separate times until a kill by Espinola moved the score to 12-10. Baker and Kennedy earned the final two kills of the evening to secure the 15-12 win in set five and the 3-2 win overall.

With the victory Johnson & Wales improves to 17-7 overall and 5-3 in the GNAC while Emmanuel falls to 6-9 overall and 4-5 in conference action.  JWU will return to action Saturday, March 28^th when they travel to Wentworth for a GNAC tri-match with Emerson starting at 1:00 p.m.

*Release courtesy of JWU Sports Information