Sports Notebook

Lehman’s Ebbesen looks to elevate volleyball program  

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Last season in her first year as Lehman College’s new head volleyball coach, Sovanny Ebbesen transformed a former mediocre Lightning outfit into a program on the rise in the City University of New York Athletic Conference. 

Ebbesen led Lehman men’s volleyball team to a 15-11 overall record and a 6-2 mark in CUNYAC while also earning a berth in the semifinals of the conference tournament.

Now Ebbesen will try to pull off the same kind of turnaround with the Lehman women’s volleyball team.

The Lightning women’s team staggered through a 6-18 season last year when they won just three CUNYAC games and failed to reach the conference tournament. 

The Ebbesen era tips off Sept. 2 when the Lightning travel to William Paterson College for a 7 p.m. match. 

The home opener comes Sept. 12 when the Lightning host Farmingdale State at 6 p.m. That contest will mark the first of three straight home matches, which also will see Lehman take on Old Westbury on Sept. 14 at 6 p.m., and Rutgers-Newark later that night at 8 p.m. 

Other home games include contests against Yeshiva on Sept. 19 at 7 p.m., Hunter College on Sept. 26 at 6 p.m., the College of St. Elizabeth on Oct. 3 at 7 p.m., Medgar Evers on Oct. 12 at 7 p.m., Brooklyn College on Oct. 24 at 5 p.m., and St. Joseph’s-Brooklyn later that evening at 7 p.m.

The CUNYAC tournament commences Oct. 31, with the semifinals and finals slated for Nov. 3.

Gebhard to make Dolphin debut

When the College of Mount Saint Vincent women’s soccer team opens its 2017 season, the Dolphins will do so with a new head coach on the sidelines. 

Katie Gebhard, a 2012 graduate of Lynchburg College in Virginia, came over to The Mount after serving as an assistant coach at both Randolph-Macon College in Virginia and Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey.

During her four-year playing career, Lynchburg reached the NCAA tournament four times, including a trip to the Final Four in 2009. 

Gebhard will get her first taste as head coach Sept. 1 when the Dolphins travel to Rutgers-Newark. 

The start time is still to be determined. 

Gebhard will coach her first home game Sept. 13 when the Dolphins host Farleigh Dickinson University-Florham at 4:30 p.m. 

Other Mount home games include contests against Moravian College on Sept. 16 at noon, Sarah Lawrence College on Sept. 23 at noon, Maritime College on Oct. 7 at noon, Old Westbury on Oct. 21 at noon, and Yeshiva on Oct. 25 at 4:30 p.m. 

The Skyline Conference tournament commences Oct. 28, with the semifinals set for Nov. 1 and the finals on Nov. 3.

Lehman going ‘cross-country’

Lehman men’s cross-country team will open its seven-meet regular season Sept. 3 when the Lightning participate in the Hunter College Invitational. 

The start time is to be determined. 

The Lightning also will take part in the Baruch College Invitational on Sept. 10, the Queensborough Community College Invitational on Sept. 17, the Osprey Open in Pomona, New Jersey, on Sept. 23, the Mount St. Mary College Invitational on Sept. 30 in Kingston, the NJIT Highlander Challenge on Oct. 17 in Newark, and the St. Joseph’s-Long Island Invitational on Oct. 14 in Patchogue. 

All start times are to be determined.

The City University of New York Athletic Conference championships will be held Oct. 29 at Van Cortlandt Park.

Lehman College, New York Athletic Conference, Mount Saint Vincent soccer, cross country, volleyball, sports, Sean Brennan

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