York Set to Take on Lehman in Men’s Volleyball Quarterfinals
JAMAICA, N.Y. – The seeding for the 2013 CUNY Athletic Conference Men's Volleyball Championships were announced Wednesday morning. The Cardinals earned the number three seed and will host the sixth-seeded Lehman College in the Quarterfinal round Tuesday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m.
After losing the season opener, York (22-12, 9-2 CUNYAC) compiled an impressive six-match winning streak to start the season, only to be later topped by seven straight wins. The Cardinals also reached 20 wins in a season for the first-time in school history with the help of several NCAA Division III-leading players.
Terrence Sutton's 2.71 digs/set not only leads the team, but also lands him eighth in all of division III. Sophomore standout
Jon Peter Sardea has been consistently exceptional this season, ranking in the division's top 45 in aces and assists per set. Much of the Cardinals success has also come from the stellar defensive play by junior middle hitter
Leszek Stankiewicz, who has accumulated .89-block/set average which also lands him among the division leaders at #23.
Edner Geffrard (2.36 kills/ set, 0.82 blocks/ set) and
Avinash Thomas (3.75 assists/ set, 1.75 kills/ set) have also consistently been among the team leaders in multiple categories.
Lehman completed the regular season with an overall record of 13-15, including a 3-11 record inside the CUNY Athletic Conference. The Lightning will bring its own set of division leaders to the first round matchup, which includes two of the nations best servers. Luis Colon and Brian Francisco rank #4 and #6 in aces/set respectfully. Francisco also ranks in the top 30 in digs/set and kills/set, while Manuel Bonilla's 2.23 digs/set average places him 30
th in the country.
These conference rivals squared off twice this season with York coming away victorious on both occasions. In their last meeting on March 19, the Cardinals got off to slow start but managed to pull out a narrow first set win. From there on out, York remained unchallenged as they won the next two sets with ease. Stankiewicz led the red birds with a match-high 13 kills, hit .800 and totaled nine blocks.
Jhonnattan Fernandez also slammed eight kills of his own. Francisco led the Lightning with nine kills, while Louis added 13 assists to go along with his five digs.
The other quarterfinal matchups are: #1 Baruch vs. #8 Medgar Evers, #2 Hunter vs. #7 John Jay and #4 Brooklyn vs. #5 CCNY.
York has two regular season matchups remaining before the CUNYAC Championships begin. Including one against top seeded Baruch, which could potentially be a finals preview.
The semifinals and finals will be played Friday, April 12 at The City College of New York.
4pm: Semifinal - 2/6 winner vs. 3/7 winner.
6pm: Semifinal - 1/8 winner vs. 4/5 winner, with the respective winners facing off at 8 p.m. for the CUNYAC Championship.
