Charlotte, NC -- The Johnson & Wales Volleyball Team continues to struggle in October.  Injuries and players forced to play out of position are making competitions tough for the Wildcats.  The team traveled to Wake Technical Community College to participate in a tri-match on Friday, and they met two strong teams who challenged the Wildcats.  For the first time since 2011, the Wildcats dropped both matches of a tri-match.

The first contest was the first match-up of the year between JWU and Surry Community College.  A familiar opponent from the past, Surry came out strong and aggressive at the net.  JWU struggled to keep pace with the Knights and was unable to match their kills with points of their own.  Unable to get any consistency in the match, JWU went down in straight sets with scores of 19-25, 21-25, and 13-25.  Lucy Herrmann led the Wildcats with 8 kills while Hailey Thrift contributed 6 kills and 17 assists.  Summer Meredith led the defense with 15 kills and 31 serve receive passes.

The second match was a rematch of last week's thriller at JWU.  Wake Techical Community College and JWU battled to the very end with Wake Tech coming out on top with a 14-16 score in the fifth set.  The Wildcats were hoping to avenge that loss on the Eagles' home floor, but lineup changes kept the Wildcats from getting any sort of rhythm as they tried to score from the outside and had very little luck.  JWU fell again in straight sets to Wake Tech with scores of 16-25, 15-25, and 19-25.  Lucy Herrmann had 10 kills, while Reanna Bray had 6. 

These two losses take the Wildcats to 11-20 on the season.  Their next match is Tuesday at Davidson County Community College.  Game time is 7:00 PM.