NEW YORK – The Yeshiva University men's volleyball team dropped a thrilling season opener to Lehman College, 3-1, at Max Stern Athletic Center on Wednesday evening. Set scores were 25-11, 19-25, 25-20, and 25-22.
Leading the way for the Maccabees was senior
Alon Jakubowitz who slammed home a match-high 19 kills, while having four blocks and a service ace for 23 total points. The Woodmere native had a hitting percentage of .375. Senior
Michael Stark led the way defensively with a match-high 17 digs, while classmate
Benjamin Goldstein tallied 26 assists, four kills, and five digs. Senior
Steven Zelmanovich also anchored the defense with 10 digs.
After falling in the first set, YU (0-1) got off to a fast start in the second. Jakubowitz had a successful attack to give Yeshiva a 12-6 advantage, much to the delight of the raucous Max Stern Athletic Center crowd. Later in the set, Lehman (4-2) managed to pull to within four, at 20-16, but another kill by Jakubowitz highlighted three unanswered points for Yeshiva to inflate the home team's lead to 23-16. With Yeshiva at set point, Jakubowitz successfully blocked a Lehman attack to clinch the set-victory for the Maccabees and tie the match at one game apiece.
The Macs started fast in the third, as Jakubowitz's kill gave his team a 9-6 advantage. However, the Lightning took over the stanza by going on a 9-1 run to take a 15-10 hold. A kill by junior
Shmuel Aberman highlighted a 4-0 run that pulled YU to within three, at 20-17, but Lehman pulled away to win the third set, 25-20, and put YU on the brink.
The Lightning never trailed in the fourth set. The key was a 5-0 run to extend Lehman's lead to 14-8. Later, with the visiting team up, 24-19, YU had one more rally in them. Jakubowitz slammed home a kill to highlight a 3-0 run to pull the Macs to within two, but Lehman ended up scoring the 25
th point to clinch the set and the match.
For the Maccabees, Aberman had three kills, five assists, and six digs. Senior
Benjamin Smillie had nine digs, while classmate
Amitai Kolom had six kills and three digs. Sophomore
Akiva Kamornick tallied four digs of his own.
For Lehman, freshman Ray Rodriguez tallied a double-double with 10 kills and 14 digs.
Yeshiva will battle Pratt Institute, at the Pratt Athletic and Recreation Center, on Wednesday evening. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
