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Hawks Sweep LC in 3; Baruch Blasts York in Semis
#2 Seeded Hunter swept #3 Lehman in the first of two semifinals tonight, 25-21, 25-14, 25-21 and will face #1 Baruch who just beat #4 York 25-11, 25-14, 25-7 in the second semifinal. Today's action, including the championship match is being played at Baruch's ARC Arena. The Championship final, is set for 8:00 pm and will be taped by BronxNet Television and shown on both BronxNet and CUNY-TV at later airdates. Admission to every match is free of charge.
Semifinal 1: #2 Hunter defeated. #3 Lehman • 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-21) • Box Score
Pushing for its first championship game appearance since 2002 when Lehman defeated City College of New York, the Lightning instead bowed out in three sets – 25-21, 25-14, 25-21 – to the No. 2 seed Hunter College in the semifinals of the CUNYAC/EmblemHealth Men's Volleyball Championships held at Baruch College on Friday night.
The loss completes a 16-11 season for the Lightning, while also ending the team's six-game winning streak dating back to March 8 when Lehman defeated Medgar Evers in straight sets.
Fresh off its quarterfinal win over Brooklyn College in the quarterfinals, Lehman fell behind 13-8 in the first set thanks to an aggressive-blocking Hunter team which turned back three Lightning shots in the early going. For the match, the Hawks blocked 10 Lehman shots, with Braien Otsla leading the way with six blocking assists.
Trailing 17-14, Lehman closed to within 17-16 on a kill by Nate Martin and an attack error by Otsla. However, following what would prove to be a theme throughout the match, the Lightning could not put together a sustained run, instead watching as Hunter took the next two points on a kill by Albert Chi and a service ace from Stanley Martinez. Lehman would once again pull within two points at 23-21, but it was too little, too late as Hunter took the next two to close out the first set.
Similar to the previous set, Hunter took an early lead and then watched the Lightning battle back to tie at 8-8. From that point on, though, the Hawks went on a 9-2 run to take a commanding 17-10 lead on their way to a relatively easy 25-14 win.
Facing an uphill climb down two sets to none, the Lightning fought valiantly in the third, taking a 3-2 lead. The advantage for Lehman was its first of the match, but ultimately proved to be its last, as Hunter combined an overwhelming attack, some excellent receiving, and several Lehman errors to send the Lightning home earlier than it had hoped.
Playing in their final CUNYAC matches, seniors Nate Martin and R.J. LeBlanc combined for 12 kills and 10 digs, with LeBlanc also adding two service aces. Setter Miguel Gallardo recorded 20 assists in the loss.
“This was a really great group to coach,” said Lehman head coach Wolfgang Lucena. “We developed over the season, finished on a six-game winning streak, but it's hard to win against a team like Hunter when you're not playing at your best.
Semifinal 2: #1 Baruch defeated #4 York •
3-0 (25-11, 25-14, 25-7) • Boxscore
The men’s volleyball
team advanced to their seventh consecutive conference final by
sweeping York College (25-11, 25-14, 25-7) in a CUNYAC/Emblem
Health semifinal match on Friday night in the ARC Arena.
The Bearcats hit for a.477 hitting percentage with 34 total kills,
compared to only 13 by York (-0.54).
Vincent Cruz had one of his finest career matches with 10 kills
(no errors) to go along with a torrid .909 hitting percentage.
Pablo Oliveira (.429) and Steven Coniglio (.889) recorded eight
kills each to help Baruch extend their overall CUNYAC win streak to
50 matches.
