Oct. 10, 2011

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - The Lehman women's volleyball team was understandably flying high following seven consecutive wins entering Monday afternoon's multi-match at the College of Staten Island.

With its first match against conference power Baruch, the Lightning had a chance to start the day with an exclamation point.

Instead, the Bearcats overpowered the Lightning in three games – 25-16, 25-16, 25-16 – looking every bit the part of the
match favorite in doing so.

Senior Gerri-Ann Martin did her best to push the Lightning over the top, finishing with 14 kills, eight digs and three service aces.  Shari Quiles added six kills and three solo blocks, while Jasmine Bermudez collected 18 assists.

Baruch was led by sophomore Rebecca Peralta's 14 kills.  Junior Melinda Santiago notched 32 assists in the win.

Looking to get back on track, Lehman squared off with City College of New York in the day's second match.  Despite their dismal overall record, however, the Beavers displayed a high energy level of play that had Lehman on its heels.

After winning the first game 25-18, the Lightning narrowly escaped the second game with a 25-22 win before dropping the third game 25-20 to the Beavers.  Emboldened by their third game triumph, the Beavers were poised to force a fifth and deciding game and actually led 22-20 before the Lightning battled back to take five of the next six points to end the match 25-23.

Once again Martin was at the forefront of Lehman's win, slamming home 23 kills to go along with 10 digs.  Senior captain Jen Winkler added seven kills, including several huge putaways in the deciding fourth game.  Lehman's Bermudez managed an eye-popping 45 assists.

Sitting at 9-7 overall and 4-2 in the conference, Lehman returns to the court on October 17 for a non-conference away match versus the College of New Rochelle.