Lehman College Athletics

Box Score

The Lehman College men’s volleyball team (9-7 Overall, 5-3 CUNYAC) took a huge step towards solidifying a home match in the quarterfinal round of the 2010 CUNYAC Men’s Volleyball Tournament as the Lightning turned back the Cardinals of York College (10-12 Overall, 6-6 CUNYAC) by scores of 30-23, 22-30, 30-28, and 30-23 Tuesday evening at the APEX Center in the Bronx.

In the victory for the Lightning, Nate Martin put forth a dominating performance, posting match-highs of 18 kills and 20 digs while recording three service aces while hitting .157 on the evening. RJ LeBlanc also chipped in with 14 kills and five digs while hitting .346 on the night, and Angel Fernandez recorded a match-high 42 assists. Rafael Abreu added 14 digs, and Kelvis Castro tallied six kills and recorded six digs. Following the match, head coach Wolfgang Lucena gave his thoughts.

“This was a tremendous victory for us,” Lucena said. “We fought hard throughout and maintained our energy from start to finish. I was very impressed with our effort, and I feel as though we took another step tonight towards our ultimate goal which is to get to the championship. Hopefully we can ride this momentum into Saturday morning.”

Despite the loss for the Cardinals, York College was led by Alex Niles who recorded team-highs with 18 kills and 19 digs while hitting .387 on the night, and it was also Bryan Williams adding nine kills and eight digs. Finally, Arturo Cabrera Jr. helped out with eight kills and five digs.

Lehman College had 45 assists on the evening compared to 38 for York College, and the Lightning had nine total blocks to York College’s five. The teams were even with 67 digs apiece.

The Lightning will return to action Saturday morning as Lehman will participate in a CUNYAC multi-match at the City College of New York’s Nat Holman Gymnasium, taking on the Yellow Jackets of New York City College at 9:00 a.m. before battling the Cougars of Medgar Evers at 11:00 a.m.