NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The College of New Rochelle Women’s Volleyball team needed something to snap a three-game losing streak. The solution – a home game against non-conference rival Lehman College. The Blue Angels came into the night 9-0 at home and after a small scare by the Lightning, CNR pulled out its 10th straight win at home with a 3-1 (25-13, 24-26, 25-21, 25-14) victory.
The home team looked on fire to start the match as junior Melanie Ann Lopez Soto (Gurabo, PR) started the match with three straight aces and before the crowd at the Wellness Center had even settled in, CNR was up by a 14-5 margin. Sophomore Fabiola Padilla Rios (San Juan, PR) led the way on the attack with four of her 15 kills on the first frame.
Lehman regained its composure in the second game and took its first lead at 12-10 thanks to three straight errors by New Rochelle players. From that point on, neither team was able to get more than a two point lead the rest of the way. Tied 24-24, the Lightning recorded a kill and earned the set on another mishit by the Blue Angels.
CNR jumped out to an early lead in the third, again on the serve of Lopez Soto, who picked up three more aces on her first serve of game three, Up 20-14, the Blue Angels watched as their lead evaporated thanks to the hitting of Lehman’s Jo-Marie Aquino. She tallied four kills in the stretch to eventually tie the score at 20-20. Moments later with a narrow 22-21 lead, junior Tiany Perez Diaz (Juncos, PR) served and ace and then finished the match out thanks to a pair of Lehman hitting errors.
The Blue Angels took all the steam out of Lehman’s engine and cruised to a 25-14 win in the decisive game. Padilla Rios added four more of her kills in the game.
On the night, libero Stephanie Garcia (Chino, CA) and sophmore Rosa Angeles (Yonkers, NY) led the way on the floor with 20 and 11 digs, respectively. Lopez Soto tallied 28 assists on the night.
CNR will look for its 11th home win when it hosts Sarah Lawrence on Friday night at 7:00pm
