This past week, the #7 ranked Johnson & Wales' Men's Volleyball Team extended their winning streak to 10 matches (9 against varsity opponents and 1 exhibition against Colorado University) with two wins at Graceland University before the streak was stopped by two losses against the #1 ranked NAIA team in the country, Park University. The 10 match winning streak spanned 34 days and started back on January 26th with a 3-0 win over #5 ranked Cardinal Stritch University. In the 10 matches that they won, JWU won 30 games while only dropping 3.

This past week's stretch of four conference matches began at Graceland University in Lamoni, IA on February 26th. While the teams split the first two games, JWU gained control as the match progressed en route to a 3-1 (30-24, 31-33, 30-25, 30-23) victory. The Wildcats were led offensively by junior outside hitter Curtis Oliver (Santa Barbara, CA) who recorded 20 kills while hitting .405. Oliver was also strong defensively with 6 blocks and 8 digs. Other strong defensive performances were turned in by senior middle blocker Ty Schraufnagel (Parker, CO) who blocked 5 balls, and by juniors Hapaki Kaululaau (Laie, HI) and Brad Larsen (Costa Mesa, CA) who collected 20 digs and 11 digs respectively.

Johnson & Wales led the rematch with Graceland on February 27th from start to finish as they recorded a 3-0 (30-25, 30-25, 30-25) victory. Junior outside hitter Eric Kiel (Long Beach, CA) led the offensive charge by putting away 10 kills on 16 errorless swings to record a .625 hitting percentage. Junior middle blocker Ben Davies (Worcester, MA) recorded a team leading 3 aces to go along with a team leading 4 blocks. The Wildcats were again led defensively by Larsen and Kaululaau, who this time dug 13 and 11 balls respectively.

After a day off, JWU headed to Kansas City for two matches against the #1 ranked team in the NAIA, Park University. Over the past two seasons, Park has only dropped 3 matches to NAIA teams, with 1 of those losses coming at the hands of Johnson & Wales last year, and the other two coming at the hands of 5-time reigning national champion California Baptist University. There would be no upset this time against Park, as the #1 ranked team backed up their ranking with two convincing wins.

In the first match on February 29th, the teams traded blows for much of game 1, but Park's Ryan Stafford's 18 kills and .680 hitting percentage proved too much for the Wildcats, as JWU fell 0-3 (22-30, 20-30, 24-30). Johnson & Wales was led by Kiel's 9 kills, and by three different players who each recorded 3 blocks in Davies, Oliver, and senior setter Cody Dunston (Aurora, CO).

In the weekend finale on March 1st, JWU would again compete well in game 1, before struggling down the stretch in a 0-3 (25-30, 18-30, 20-30) loss. Offensively, the Wildcats were led by Kiel's 7 kills and .429 hitting percentage and defensively Kaululaau and Cody Dunston led the way with 12 digs and 9 digs respectively.

Johnson & Wales will look to get back to their winning ways this week with a pair of matches against Boise State University. The two teams will face off on March 6th at 7pm at the Wildcat Center and then again on March 8th at 7pm at the Colorado Convention Center as a featured match during the Colorado Crossroads Tournament.