BOSTON, Mass – Men's Volleyball suffered a tough loss against the Johnson and Wales University Wildcats after extending it to 5 sets, 3-2. After the Lions rallied back to take the second and third set, the Wildcats were able to climb back and take the 4th and final set. With the loss the Lions drop to 3-6 and 0-2 in the GNAC. The Wildcats are now 4-8 overall and rise to 1-0 in conference play.

The Lions took the opening point of the match, but were unable to hold the early lead as the Wildcats jump out 6-3. The Lions took a quick timeout and through several tough rallies tied it up at 14-14. With the score at 18-16, the Wildcats pulled ahead, winning the set 25-18.

Emerson came back during the second set, closing the gap to tie the match. Mark Piorkowsk and Win Kittivatcharapon came up big late in the set to swing the momentum for the Lions. Followed by kills from Jackson Wiley and Stig Regan to close out the set, 25-23.

The Lions stayed on top during the third set and pulled ahead of the Wildcats. The Lions forced some errors late in the set and with some timely kills, closed it out 25-20.

The fourth set was a hard fight on both sides of the net. With the score at 23-23, Brendan Baker scored a necessary kill for the Wildcats, followed by an attack error by the Lions as JWU took the set 25-23.

The teams headed into the fifth and final set tied at 2-2. The Lions traded points with the Wildcats, and at 13-13, Baker again scored a kill to give JWU the final lead as they closed the set and match 15-13.

Stat leaders for the Lions include Piorkowski with 18 kills and Wiley with 14. Nick Rusk and Kittivatcharapon both had 10 kills and 2 block assists. Jared Gross lead the team in digs with 29, while Brendan McGonigle had 59 assists.

The Lion's return to action at home against Newbury College on February 18, at  6:00pm. Johnson & Wales travels to Rivier on the 17th for a 7:00pm match.