Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 BRONX, N.Y. – The Lehman College women's volleyball team split the first two CUNY Athletic Conference matches of the season, as the APEX hosted the CUNYAC Multi-Match on Saturday. The Lightning defeated CCNY, 3-1, in the first match, but fell to Baruch in straight sets later in the day.
In the first match, against CCNY, Lehman won by set scores of 25-15, 25-19, 18-25, and 25-21. In the fourth set, while Lehman was hanging on to a slim 18-16 lead, junior setter Imani Dubois (Bronx, N.Y./J.P. Taravella) set the ball to senior hitter Cari English (Yonkers, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) who slammed the ball home for a kill, to extend Lehman's lead to three. The Beavers (4-7, 1-2 CUNYAC) managed to pull within one on a few occasions but Lehman always had an answer to CCNY's rally. English tallied her team-leading 15th kill of the match to seal Lehman's first conference win of the year.
Senior Julia Mercado (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) led the defense with 16 digs. English added four solo blocks, and three service aces, scoring a total of 22 points.
In the second match, against Baruch (5-8, 2-0 CUNYAC), Lehman (4-7, 1-1 CUNYAC) lost all three sets by identical scores of 25-19. The second set was a back-and-forth affair as there were seven ties and five lead changes. Sophomore middle blocker Salveira Gonzalez (Bronx, N.Y./Riverdale-Kingsbridge Academy) blocked an attack by the opposition to give Lehman an early 4-1 lead. Senior hitter Maria Richiez-Paredes (Bronx, N.Y./Notre Dame School) took a feed from Dubois and slammed the ball home to extend the Lightning's lead to 16-14. Later, down 18-17, English had two consecutive solo blocks to help Lehman regain a narrow lead. However, the Bearcats scored the next seven points to claim the set and would eventually win the match.
For the second match, English totaled four more solo blocks while Mercado had 11 digs. Gonzalez helped the defense by tallying 10 digs of her own.
Lehman will be back in the friendly confines of the APEX Main Gym on Tuesday, September 16, for another CUNY Athletic Conference match, against the College of Staten Island, beginning at 7:00 p.m.
