BRONX, N.Y. – The Yeshiva University men's volleyball team suffered a non-conference loss to Lehman College, 3-1, at the APEX Main Gym on Sunday afternoon. Set scores were 25-22, 21-25, 20-25, and 22-25.

Leading the way for the Maccabees (1-2) was sophomore defensive specialist Eliyahou Benhamou, who produced 10 points. He slammed home eight kills, picked up two blocks, and scored an ace. Senior outside hitter Chaim Aryeh Rubin led the way defensively with a match-high 14 digs, while adding three kills on the attack. Sophomore setter Isaac Pomerance led the team with 18 assists, while anchoring the defense with six digs, scoring just as many service aces, and producing two kills. Senior libero Sibi Selvarajah had a strong defensive match with 11 digs.

In the opening set, Pomerance scored two aces to propel the Maccabees to a 6-0 lead. Later in the stanza, a kill by Benhamou and graduate student middle blocker Adam Gerszberg ignited a 4-0 run for the Macs to give the visiting team a 13-4 advantage. After Lehman (3-7) pulled to within 16-9, Yeshiva countered with three straight points, highlighted by sophomore opposite hitter Derek Orenshein's kill and sophomore outside hitter Jonathan Apsan's service ace. The Lightning stormed back by going on a 10-3 run to narrow the Macs' lead to 22-9. Apsan slammed the ball through Lehman's defense for a kill to interrupt the home team's momentum. An attack error by Lehman clinched the first set for Yeshiva, 25-22.

Lehman jumped out to a 10-4 advantage in the second stanza. A service ace by Pomerance capped off a 6-3 run to pull YU to within three, at 13-10. Lehman countered with four straight points, to go back up by seven, before Yeshiva went on a 3-0 run of its own. Later in the stanza, back-to-back kills by junior middle blocker Yosef Ajami and Pomerance sparked four unanswered points for the Maccabees to shrink the Lightning's lead to 21-20. However, Lehman scored four of the game's final five points to win the second stanza, 25-21, and even the match at one set apiece.

The Lightning went on a 10-1 run to take a commanding 10-4 advantage in the third set. The Maccabees answered with five straight points, capped off by a service ace from Benhamou, to pull Yeshiva to within one. Later in the set, Ajami's kill capped off three straight points for the Maccabees to narrow the opponent's lead to 16-15. The Lightning tilted momentum into their favor by going on an 8-3 run to earn a set-point opportunity. The Maccabees would not go down without a fight, as Gerszberg and Apsan combined for back-to-back kills to pull YU closer. However, Lehman scored the next point to clinch the set and put Yeshiva on the brink.

In the fourth set, Rubin and Orenshein each generated a kill to propel Yeshiva to a 7-1 hold. Lehman answered with a 7-2 run to pull to within two. Sophomore outside hitter Joseph Sulaymanov and Orenshein each scored a kill to bookend a 5-0 YU run to put the visiting team up, 15-8. With the score 19-12 in favor of the Blue and White, Lehman went on a run by scoring eight of the game's next nine points to tie the match, at 20-20. After Yeshiva regained the lead, the home team scored the next two points to jump out in front. A successful attack by Benhamou tied the set, but Lehman finished it off with three straight points to win the game, 25-22, and the match, 3-1.

For the afternoon, Apsan had three kills, two blocks, just as many digs, and an ace. Orenshein had three kills, five digs, two blocks, and just as many assists. Gerszberg had a solid match with five kills and eight digs, while Sulaymanov slammed home two kills. Ajami had a pair of kills and just as many digs, while senior outside hitter Amitai Miller registered a dig.

For Lehman, senior middle hitter Kris Rodriguez produced 15 kills with eight digs, while freshman outside hitter Will Eschenbach had a double-double with 12 kills and 13 digs.

Yeshiva will travel to Brooklyn College, on Tuesday, for a non-conference matchup with the Bulldogs. First serve at the West Quad Center is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.