BRONX, N.Y. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The New Jersey City University's men's volleyball program was even with or outplayed Lehman College in nearly every statistical category, except for one—attack errors—and it ultimately cost the Gothic Knights a chance at a season-opening road win as Lehman defeated NJCU, 3-1 (25-18, 25-12, 13-25, 25-17) in a non-conference match at The APEX on January 30.
 
Despite several solid individual performances, NJCU (0-1), opening its 28th season of men's volleyball, committed 28 attack errors while Lehman (1-4) only had 13 miscues as the Lightning won their first match. NJCU had a 48 percent sideout ratio in the loss (42-87). The loss snapped a 12-match winning streak for the Knights in the series.
 
Freshman setter Jimmy Vega (Harrison, N.J./Harrison), a First-Team All-State selection as a high school senior, tallied 30 assists, five kills in seven swings (.571 attack) and two aces in his collegiate debut while freshman middle hitter Julian Moreira (Miami, Fla./Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Biscayne Bay Campus) put away 11 kills, hit .259 (11-4-27) and had three blocks (two solo) in his first college match.
 
Freshman opposite/outside hitter Jonathan Andrews (Palisades Park, N.J./North Bergen) produced a double-double of 10 kills and 13 digs with two blocks in his NCAA debut. Sophomore libero David Penaherrera (Harrison, NJ/Harrison) provided 11 digs.
 
Also for the Knights, freshman outside hitter J.J. Berdecia (West New York, N.J./Memorial) collected 10 digs and six kills while freshman middle hitter Christian Ramirez (West New York, N.J./Memorial) hit .312 with eight winners.
 
Lehman hit .243 as a team with two less kills than the Knights. Yordy Diaz led the Lightning with a stellar .481 attack percentage, planting 13 kills without an error in 27 swings. He added 11 digs for a double-double. Roberto Ventura Diaz finished with 14 kills as the top two Lightning hitters accounted for 27 of 38 kills.
 
Also for Lehman, Yaw Eshun had six kills and five blocks (two solo). George Montilla and Emmanuel Ortiz split time at setter, finishing with 18 and 17 assists, respectively.
 
After losing the first two sets, NJCU had a dominant effort in game three when it showed signs of a rally with 16 kills and a .500 attack rate (16-3-26). But after seven early ties in game four, Lehman put the match away, hitting at a .476 clip with 12 kills (12-2-21) while notching an 82 percent sideout rate (14-17) in the fourth set.
 
OF NOTE:

• 40th meeting. NJCU leads all-time series, 26-14.
• Despite having its 12-match winning streak in the series snapped, NJCU has still won 21 of the last 23 meetings.
• Lehman won for the first time in the series since a 3-2 decision (34-32, 32-34, 30-24, 28-30, 15-13) on January 23, 2008 in the Bronx.

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
NJCU is on the road for match No. 2 on Wednesday, February 1 (7 p.m.) when it meets Purchase College (0-1) in a non-conference match between Skyline Conference clubs in Purchase, N.Y. NJCU leads the all-time series, 15-0 (11 sweeps).