After a successful 4-0 road trip to the Boston area this past weekend, Johnson & Wales' players received two out of the three national player of the week awards. While JWU players have received conference player of the week awards in the past, this marks the first time that any Wildcat has received a national player of the week award.

After putting forth a very well rounded effort through all four matches, senior setter Cody Dunston (Aurora, CO) was named the NAIA national player of the week. On the weekend, Dunston recorded 2.36 kills per game while hitting .419 and blocking .93 balls per game. His 7.21 assists per game and 2.79 digs per game led all Wildcats' players this past weekend.

For his passing and defensive efforts this past weekend, junior libero Hapaki Kaululaau (Laie, HI) was named the NAIA national libero of the week. On the weekend, Kaululaau led the Wildcats with a stellar 2.8 passer rating and a .976 passing efficiency. He also was second on the team with 2.71 digs per game.

The road trip to the New England area started off on Friday night, February 8th at Lasell College. Johnson & Wales controlled the net all night recording 10 team blocks, as all 13 players logged playing time en route to a 3-0 (30-22, 30-27, 30-18) victory. JWU was led offensively by junior middle blocker Ben Davies' (Worcester, MA) 7 kills on 8 swings with no errors. Davies also carried the blocking load by collecting a team high 7 blocks. Cody Dunston led the team defensively with 10 digs.

On Saturday, the venue shifted to Endicott College where the Wildcats faced a double header against the Johnson & Wales' Providence, RI campus and Endicott College. Johnson & Wales-Denver opened the double header against Johnson & Wales-Providence in the first ever meeting between the two campuses. JWU-Denver recorded their most lopsided victory of the year as they won 3-0 (30-17, 30-21, 30-20) extending their win streak to 5 matches and their consecutive games won streak to 15. JWU-Denver had a balanced offensive attack with 6 different players hitting .300 or better. Junior outside hitter Curtis Oliver (Santa Barbara, CA) led the way with 11 kills, while Cody Dunston and junior outside hitter Eric Kiel (Long Beach, CA) each contributed 7 kills. Junior libero Brad
Larsen (Costa Mesa, CA) led the way defensively with 10 digs.

In the second match of the double header, Johnson & Wales faced Endicott College. While their consecutive games won streak was stopped at 16, the Wildcats were still victorious 3-2 (30-22, 27-30, 30-24, 28-30, 15-11). As a team, JWU hit for a stellar .342 hitting percentage. They were led by Oliver's 28 kills (a season high for the team) and .370 hitting percentage, and also by Kiel's 16 kills, Cody Dunston's 13 kills and senior middle blocker Ty Schraufnagel's (Parker, CO) 10 kills. Dunston also had 30 assists and 14 digs to complete a triple-double.

In the trip finale on Sunday, Johnson & Wales traveled to Newbury College. In their most well played match of the trip, Johnson & Wales came away with the 3-0 (30-28, 30-22, 30-25) win to extend their winning streak to 7 matches. The Wildcats came up big at the net with 12.5 blocks and defensively with 51 digs. Offensively, Eric Kiel led the way with 16 kills while hitting .444, while Cody Dunston put away 10 balls and hit .563. Ty Schraufnagel led the blocking charge with 7 blocks and Hapaki Kaululaau capped off his award winning weekend with a team high 13 digs.

Next up for the Wildcats is a home match against Colorado University on Friday, February 15th at 7pm at the Wildcat Center.