The Lehman College women's volleyball team (8-8 Overall, 3-2 CUNYAC) dropped a pair of non-conference matches today, falling to the SUNYIT Wildcats (12-8 Overall, 3-0 NEAC)by scores of 8-25, 26-24, 16-25, and 14-25 and the Kean University Cougars (7-11 Overall, 1-3 NJAC) by scores of 25-17, 22-25, 25-17, 23-25, and 13-15 Saturday afternoon at the APEX Center in the Bronx.
In the first match of the afternoon, the Lightning dropped the first set by 17 points before rallying in the second set for a 26-24 victory. From there, however, it was all SUNYIT as the Wildcats captured the final two sets and the match.
Leading the way for SUNYIT was Hillary Pundt as she posted a match-high 19 kills to go along with 14 digs, three service aces, and three digs. Juleah Vedder also contributed in a big way she finished the match with 15 kills to go along with 13 digs, and Cyronne Credle tallied 13 kills and two solo blocks. As a team, the Wildcats hit an impressive .245 while only committed 17 hitting errors in the four sets.
Despite the loss for the Lightning, standout Gerri-Ann Martin continued her stellar season as she posted a team-high 16 kills while also adding 13 digs. Setter Lisa Jagdeo also chipped in with a team-high 20 assists, and captain Jillian Acevedo put forth an impressive match with 19 digs. As a squad, the Lightning hit just .028.
In Lehman's second match of the afternoon, the Lightning put themselves in an excellent position to win, as the team took a 2-1 lead after three sets. The Cougars remained confident, however, battling back and snatching the final two sets to earn the non-conference victory.
In the win for the Cougars, Jamie Sacco tallied a match-high 15 kills to go along with 19 digs and two service aces. In addition, Stefanie Santiago earned 10 kills and recorded 13 digs, and Ivana Kapetanovic finished the match with eight kills and four digs.
Despite the loss for the Lightning, Martin paced her squad with nine kills and 12 digs while Jadeo chipped in beautifully with 16 assists and 13 digs. Acevedo played solid defensively in the match, as she recorded a whopping 28 digs. Following the pair of losses, Head Coach Daniel Skilins gave his thoughts.
“The girls played very hard today, but we got very tired towards the end of the afternoon,” Skilins said. “It's very crucial that we have a day off tomorrow because Monday afternoon is going to be the most important day of our season up to this point when we play Baruch College and Medgar Evers. We'll regroup and we'll come ready to play on Monday.”
The Lightning will return to action on Columbus Day, this Monday, as Lehman battles Baruch College at 9:00am followed by a match with Medgar Evers at 11:00am, with all of the action taking place at Hunter's Sportsplex in New York, NY.
