By: Michael L. Damon
mdamon@jjay.cuny.edu
(212) 237-8322
Box Score New York, N.Y.— The John Jay women's volleyball team earned its first winning streak of the season as the Bloodhounds closed out its 2011 home and regular season conference schedule with a five-set thrilling victory over City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) foe Lehman College 3-2 (25-16, 18-25, 25-20, 19-25, 18-16) at the Doghouse on Tuesday evening.
With the win, John Jay improves to 3-21 overall and ends its conference regular season record at 2-6. Lehman drops to 11-11 and 5-3 in CUNYAC this season.
Despite the win, John Jay had already secured the No. 8 seed in the 2011 CUNYAC / Emblem Health women's volleyball championship and will play No. 1 seed Hunter College in the quarterfinal round next Tuesday (Nov. 1). Lehman has secured the No. 3 seed and will host No. 6 seed (either CSI or York) on Tuesday.
In the win, John Jay was led by
Kathleen Estevez with 13 kills and 13 digs, and
Martina Hot with 12 kills (three errors) on thirty attacks (.300 attacking percentage).
Rocio Chavira picked up a team-high 15 digs, while
Katherine Bonilla had 13,
Renauta Sailsman with 12 and
Dulce Aybar with 10.
Sailsman, Estevez, Hot and Aybar had two service aces each in the victory.
Lehman was led by Gerri Ann Martin with a match-high 18 kills to go along with 13 digs, while Jennifer Winkler had 16 digs and five service aces.
In the opening set, the Bloodhounds led from start to finish. They scored the first two points of the set and never trailed. They led by as much as nine during the set on two occasions before winning by that margin.
In the second set, John Jay scored the first point. But the Lightning struck the next five points to go up 5-1 and maintain the lead the rest of the way.
John Jay led practically the entire third set. Lehman managed a 9-9 tie at one stage of the set. But the Bloodhounds rallied off five in a row to go up 14-9 and coast to victory.
Lehman tied the sets at 2-2 with its win in the fourth. It was back and forth in the early stages. At one point, the Bloodhounds were up by three with a 6-3 advantage. But Lehman stuck around and rallied off five in a row to take an 8-6 lead. The Lightning led the rest of the way before winning the set. John Jay pulled to within one and were down 18-17, before Lehman spurted away with a 7-2 run to win the set and force a deciding set.
The final set proved to be a see-saw battle. The Bloodhounds struck early and led 4-1. But Lehman came roaring back and scored eight of the next nine points to pull ahead 9-5. John Jay chipped away and chipped away and wrestled a 13-12 lead late. Then both teams stayed within a point of each other before the match ended on a service ace by Estevez.
The five-set match by John Jay was the first for the Bloodhounds since going the distance against the College of New Rochelle on Oct. 13 of 2010. It was the first time John Jay went to five sets at the Doghouse since the 2008 season when the Bloodhounds beat Centenary College on October 7 of that year.
