Men's Volleyball Falls to Lightning in Four

BRONX, NY – St. Joseph's men's volleyball fell to Lehman College Saturday afternoon in a non-conference match 3-1.  The Lightning took the first two sets 25-10, 25-12 before St. Joseph's squeaked out a 26-24 win in set number three, but Lehman regrouped with a 25-10 win in set four to seal the victory.

Lehman took the opening point in all four sets, jumping out to commanding leads in set numbers one and two.  Brian Francisco served up six aces combined in the first two sets while collecting four kills and five digs. 

Set three was a battle from the start.  St. Joseph's took a large 9-3 lead with two kills by Raul Urshela (Orlando, FL/Colonial) and one by Matt Marino (Fort Wayne, IN/Rutherford).  The Lightning stormed back on the strength of a 10-3 run to take a tight 13-12 lead.  Both teams traded points and remained tied at 22-22.  Lehman took the advantage, scoring the next two points to getting within one point of match-point.  After three straight errors by the Lightning put the Bears up 25-24, Urshela served up an ace to give the Bears the come-from-behind set victory.

St. Joseph's couldn't build on the momentum and dropped the final set 25-10.  Francisco and Miguel Gallardo had 10 and 14 kills respectively and Francisco added nine digs for the match.  Urshela led the Bears with four kills, Maciej Sadowski (Brooklyn, NY/Cathedral Prep) had nine digs and Iqbal Husain (West Palm Beach, FL/Palm Beach Gardens) had six assists. 

The Bears are back in action Monday, March 12th with a home match against Purchase and the team will celebrate a special Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Game.  First serve is scheduled for 7:30 at Brooklyn Technical High School.