CUNYAC Men's Volleyball - 2002 CUNYAC / State Farm Championship

Lehman Takes First-Ever Title

BRONX, NY - Lehman College, the #10 team in Division III won the 2002 CUNY Athletic Conference / State Farm Men’s Volleyball Championship at Lehman College in the Bronx with four set 30-27, 30-22, 20-30, 30-25 win over CCNY. It was the school’s first-ever championship in the 17-year history of the conference championship.

“Finally! It’s fantastic to win in front of your fans in your gym,” said Lehman (27-2) head coach Junior Garcia. “CCNY is a great team and to beat them in this fashion is huge for our program. We’ve been waiting for our defense to come around all season. Our blocking and floor defense were finally up to the level of our offense.”

City College (21-4) was the more aggressive team early on, taking a 16-8 lead in the first set, followed by an 11-6 advantage in game number two. In that game, the Lightning broke open a 21-21 tie, scoring nine of the last ten points. It proved to be the turning point of the game, as Lehman had four straight blocks at 23-21. The Beavers pulled it together to win the third, but were exposed defensively by Lehman in the final set.

2002 CUNYAC Player of the Year Alejandro Flores (Moca, Dominican Republic) was unstoppable, with 39 kills, 19 blocks and 14 digs in the finale, and was an easy selection for Tournament MVP. The 600 fans in attendance, easily the largest volleyball crowd at the nine-year old APEX, wouldn’t have it any other way, as the divided crown was in unison on Flores’ dominant play.

“I’m thrilled to death,” said Flores, who’s second in Division III in kills average (5.18). “All the sacrifices we made this season, this makes it all worth it.”

Two-time CUNYAC Player of the Year Owen Niles (Brooklyn, NY) had 17 kills and seven blocks for CCNY. Freshman Sebastian Hoffman (Leipzig, Germany) added 12 kills and 7 blocks, while senior setter Welmer Magtoto (Queens, NY) had 46 assists for the Beavers.

Lehman sophomore Troy Jimenez (Queens, NY) had nine kills and 29 assists, while fellow all-star Felix Gamez (New Rochelle, NY) added 19 digs and freshman Max Valerio had 13 kills.

“We have so much power this year,” said Gamez. “We are a solid team and we have worked so hard this year to make it work.”

Besides Flores, Lehman’s Jimenez and Valerio were named to the All-Tournament Team along with Niles and Hoffman from CCNY, sophomore OH/S Rohan Lewis of NY City Tech and senior OH Justin Stack from Hunter.

With the victory, Lehman clinched the #1 seed in this week’s North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) Championships, which will be played at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. CCNY and Hunter (16-10) have also qualified for the NECVA’s 12-team tournament. NECVA’s tournament cham-pion earns one of four spots in the Molten DIII National Championships, which will be played April 22-23 at New York University.

SEMIFINAL RESULTS

#2 Lehman defeated #3 Hunter 30-22, 30-28 , 30-17

Lehman ensured a new champion for 2002 by beating the defending champions, Hunter, 30-22, 30-28, 30-17 earlier in the day. Alejandro Flores led the Lightning with 21 kills and eight digs, while Troy Jimenez had 24 assists. Senior OH Justin Stack (New York, NY) had 9 kills and 11 digs, while sophomore Corey Garvin (New York, NY) had five kills for the Hawks (16-10), who also qualified for the NECVA Championships next week in Rhode Island.

#1 CCNY defeated #5 NY City Tech 30-20, 30-17, 30-15

Preceeding the final, CCNY dominated NY City Tech, 30-20, 30-17, 30-15, to get to the school’s second final in three seasons. Owen Niles had eight kills and setter Welmer Magtoto had 27 assists for the Beavers. City Tech was led by freshman OH Eder Mathelier (Brooklyn, NY) with six kills and all-star Rohan Lewis (Barbados) had five kills. The Yellow Jackets wrap the season at 9-11.