The Lehman College men's volleyball team will enter the 2010 CUNYAC men's volleyball tournament as the No. 3 seed, and the Lightning will host the No. 6 seeded Yellow Jackets of New York City College of Technology in the quarterfinal round of the tournament on Tuesday evening at the APEX Center, with match-time scheduled for 7:00pm. The Lightning finished their regular season with a record of 14-10 overall, including a mark of 9-5 in conference contests. Those who cant make the match can follow all of the action via live statistics by clicking here.
This season has been a terrific success, and that starts at the top with first-year head coach Wolfgang Lucena. Through hard work and recruiting, Lucena put together a group of players that developed and continued to improve their chemistry as the season progressed. The team plays hard each match, the unit believes it can win every single match – a confidence that the Lightning coach believes is contagious. Remarkably, after starting the season 0-2, the Lightning never lost consecutive matches again, winning 14 of their final 22 matches.
The Lightning are led by Carleton, Michigan product Nate Martin who finished the season with a team-leading 335 kills (3.9 per set) while also topping the unit with 264 digs and 50 service aces. Teammate and fellow Michigan native RJ LeBlanc recorded 304 kills, 29 service aces, 36 block solos and 28 block assists, and Angel Fernandez had a terrific year setting for the Lightning, recording a team-high of 756 assists. Those three players will certainly be crucial to Lehman's progression in the tournament.
Lehman College defeated the Yellow Jackets twice this season, turning back City Tech by a score of 3-1 back on February 18th at the APEX Center before outlasting the Yellow Jackets by a final of 3-2 on March 6th as part of a multi-match at the Nat Holman Gymnasium. Both matches were highly-contested, and that trend will likely continue with the playoff match at the APEX Center tomorrow evening.
Fans are encouraged to come out and show their support. Should the Lightning win tomorrow evening, the team will advance to the CUNYAC semifinal round contest which is scheduled for Friday evening at Hunter College at 6:00pm. Should the Lightning qualify for the semifinals and win there, they would advance to the championship match later that evening.
