Box Score
The Lehman College men's volleyball team (13-8 Overall, 9-4 CUNYAC) avenged Tuesday's five-set defeat at the hands of the City College of New York (9-16 Overall, 5-8 CUNYAC) by downing the Beavers Monday evening at the APEX Center by scores of 0-30, 0-30, 30-27, 30-20, and 15-7 in the Bronx. The match – which was originally scheduled to take place on the morning of February 20th – was played with the Beavers leading 2-0 in sets due to the Lightning's late arrival on the morning of the originally scheduled match. Still, Lehman College overcame the hole and won three consecutive sets to capture the match in thrilling fashion.
In the victory for the Lightning, Lehman College was led by the stellar effort of RJ LeBlanc as the standout recorded a match-high 17 kills to go along with eight digs and pair of service aces. Nate Martin also had a tremendous match, adding 13 kills and nine digs, and Angel Fernandez paced his team with a match-high 25 assists to go along with four digs. Rafael Abreu also helped out with nine digs on the evening. Following the match, Lightning head coach Wolfgang Lucena gave his thoughts.
“This team is playing with so much confidence right now, and it's a great thing to see,” Lucena said. “We knew coming into this match that we had no room for error, and that we needed to play three straight terrific sets in order to win and we did just that. Tomorrow we have Baruch coming in here, and it's Senior Day, so I think our guys are certainly going to be pumped up. It's going to be fun.”
Despite the loss for the Beavers, CCNY was led by Manorge Joseph who tallied a match-high eight kills to go along with seven digs. Matthew Ng added six kills, 11 digs and a pair of service aces, and Jonathan Aguirre contributed with 20 assists and three digs.
The Lightning tallied 39 digs on the evening compared to 33 for the Beavers, and Lehman College also had 33 kills while CCNY had 29. The Lightning also had four block solos while the Beavers recorded just one.
Lehman will return to action tomorrow as the Lightning will play the Baruch College Bearcats in their final regular season conference contest. The evening will also serve as Senior Night for the Lightning, as the men's volleyball team will honor four-year standout Horace Morris prior to the contest. Match-time is set for 7:30 p.m.
