Riverdale, N.Y. – Led by a career-high 18 kills from freshman Jacob Johnson (Henderson, Nev.), the College of Mount Saint Vincent Men's Volleyball team posted its third straight victory with a 21-25, 25-16, 25-16, 25-14 non-conference win over cross-town rival Lehman on Monday night.
 
After a sluggish first set in which the Dolphins hit .086 and committed nine attack errors, they responded with 12 kills and hit .360 in the second stanza to knot the match at one set apiece. The Mount led wire-to-wire in the second set with Johnson and Tyler Cucullu (Henderson, Nev.) each posting four kills in the set for the Dolphins.
 
Mount Saint Vincent continued its efficient play in the third stanza, picking up 12 more winners and hitting .357 as a team. After allowing Lehman to climb to within 17-15 on a service error, Mount Saint Vincent closed the frame with an 8-1 run to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Johnson paced the Dolphins over the closing run with a pair of kills.
 
The Dolphins put the match away in the fourth set after totaling 14 winners in the frame to close out the victory. Following a Miguel Gallardo kill to pull Lehman to within 13-11, the Dolphins allowed the Lightning to score just three more points and closed the set with a 12-3 spurt. Cucullu recorded three kills in the run, while Johnson posted a pair of winners and James DiGiovanni collected two service aces.
 
Johnson, who was named a Skyline Conference Co-Player of the Week earlier on Monday, posted at least 10 kills in a match for the fifth straight outing and for the sixth time in seven matches to open his rookie season. He hit .250 for the Dolphins on the night and also posted four service aces and four digs.
 
Cucullu, collecting his second straight Skyline Conference Rookie of the Week honor on Monday, posted 15 kills and hit .345 for the Mount against Lehman. He added three aces, eight digs and a block to the winning effort.
 
Brett Holiday (Stratford, N.J.) collected nine kills and hit a blistering .692 in the match to go along with three total blocks. Timothy Kolodny (Woodland Hills, Calif.) rounded out the night with eight digs and four kills for the Dolphins.
 
DiGiovanni recorded at least 30 assists for the fourth straight match on Monday after registering a season-high 37 against the Lightning. He added seven digs, three kills, a pair of aces and four block assists on the night. T.J. Barczik (Lake Grove, N.Y.) finished with a match-high 15 digs.
 
Lehman received 17 kills and nine digs from Gallardo and 11 winners and 12 digs from Jaleel Lino. Roberto Pererz handed out 29 assists for the Lightning in the contest.
 
For the match, Mount Saint Vincent held a 50-31 advantage in kills and a 13-4 edge in service aces. The Dolphins also took the blocking battle on the night 6-4.
 
Monday's win pushes Mount Saint Vincent to 5-2 overall on the season. The Dolphins will look for their fourth straight win on Tuesday night when they welcome Rutgers-Newark to the Peter Jay Sharp Center. Match time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

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