The College of Staten Island men’s volleyball squad split a pair of afternoon matches today in what was a non-conference trimatch at Lehman College. CSI won the opener over Sarah Lawrence College by scores of 25-12, 25-10, 25-12, and then fell in straight-sets to host Lehman College, 25-17, 25-23, 25-20. The Dolphins are now 6-12 overall. Lehman rose to 13-9 by the close of the afternoon while, SLC fell to 0-15.
In the opener against SLC, CSI was sharp, spreading out 10 kills next to the Gryphons’ three, and they continued to play well, culminating in a .344 attack percentage in the game with 35 kills overall. Mark Palencia topped all with 11 kills on his own, followed closely by Khaleeq Baum’s eight markers.
Defensively, Ronald Tisbe posted eight digs, followed by Palencia’s five. Brandon Lei led all with 19 assists. Harris Silcott led the way with four kills and a game high 10 digs.
In the second match, Lehman got off to a 10-5 lead in the opening set, and later went up 19-10 on consecutive kills by Roberto Ventura Diaz.
CSI went on a 7-0 run in the second set to take a 12-11 lead, but Lehman responded with an 8-2 run to move up 19-14 en route the close 25-23 win.
Khaleeq Baum would score seven kills in the loss for CSI, followed by Palencia’s six. Danil Kukovitskiy would score six kills. Palencia would add 10 digs while Brandon Lei led with 18 assists. Ventura Diaz led all for Lehman with 19 kills, while Yordy Diaz posted 13 digs.
CSI’s next game will be against Baruch College at home on Thursday, March 30, at 7pm. It will be senior night at CSI, as they will honor lone senior Baum in pre-game ceremonies.
