CUNYAC/CON EDISON CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL (for tickets, live stats & links)
#1 Hunter defeated #8 Medgar Evers, 3-0 (25-4, 25-5, 25-6) • Boxscore
The 11th ranked and number one seeded Hunter College men's volleyball team defeated the visiting Medgar Evers Cougars, 3-0 (25-4, 25-6, 25-6) with ease at the Hunter Sportsplex on Tuesday evening on National Student Athlete Day. With the victory, Hunter (24-7) advances to the CUNYAC/Con Edison Championship semifnals will face t#5 Brooklyn, an upset winner over #4 Lehman on Thursday, April 12 at 6pm.
The Hawks were commanding in victory, as the Hawks amassed 32 kills on .565 attacking. Juniormiddle blocker Braien Otsla led the squad with seven kills on .750 attacking while freshman outside hitter Nino Hot added six kills on .625 attacking. Brendan Feng split time at the setter position and registered 20 assists while Stanley Martinez had 10. Eric Lodde led the team with four service aces while Jerin Kallickal had three.
Medgar Evers (0-26) had just five kills on -.321 attacking while Hunter forced 13 Cougar reception errors.
Hunter limited the Cougars chances from the onset as the Hawks opened set one on an 8-2 run. After surrendering a point, Kallickal notched 13 consecutive serves where Hunter landed a point to make it a 21-3 affair. The Cougars struck once more, taking advantage of a HC attack error but Hunter tallied four more points and ended on a high note as Lodde delivered a service ace to give the Hawks a 25-4 win in the first set.
The second played out in similar fashion as established an early 8-3 lead. After allowing a Medgar Evers point, Lodde took charge, with nine consecutive serves resulting in Hunter points, putting the Hawks ahead, 17-3. Medgar tallied a point to break the streak but Jonathan Park then delivered four winning serves. The span resulted in HC points as he notched a service ace in addition to kills from Eric Barty and Otsla as well as a MEC error to make it a 22-4 set. Medgar would add another point but Barty recorded a service ace and kill before a Cougar attack error ended the set, 25-5 in Hunter's favor.
The third and final set saw Hunter remain in control throughout. With a 16-5 advatage, Lodde delivered once more with five straight serves leading to HC points. A service error would give Medgar Evers its final point as Hunter got kills from Lodde and Otsla in addition to a Carl Skonberg service ace to make it a 24-6 affair. A Cougar error on the the ensuing play secured the 25-6 victory for the Hawks and ended Medgar Evers season.
#2 Baruch defeated #7 John Jay, 3-0 (25-10, 25-12, 25-7) • Boxscore
The #13-ranked men’s volleyball team swept the Bulldogs from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in a CUNYAC/Con Edison Men’s Volleyball Championship quarterfinal playoff match played on Tuesday night in the ARC Arena.
The Bearcats posted a 25-10, 25-12, 25-7 victory to advance to the semifinal round on Thursday, April 12, at 4:00 pm, to play York College. For complete championship results, schedules and free ticket information, please scroll to the bottom of this page.
The Bearcats pounded out 37 kills by hitting a solid .492, while the Bloodhounds totaled seven kills hitting a negative .179. Steven Coniglio led the attack with 13 kills hitting .733, while Vincent Cruz was next best with five kills hitting .625. Danny Olson dished out 30 assists and Nick Smith totaled 10 digs.
The Bloodhounds, who finish the season with a 4-17 record, were led by Ching Wu with three kills.
#3 York defeated #6 CCNY, 3-2 (25-20, 25-22, 19-25, 21-25, 15-13) • Boxscore
The York College men's volleyball team outlasted the City College of New York in a thrilling five-set match in the quarterfinals of the 2012 CUNY Athletic Conference Men's Volleyball Championship. The Cardinals won the first two sets, only to see the Beavers win the next two and force a fifth set. York would narrowly pull out the fifth set and the match by a score of 3-2 (25-20, 25-22, 19-25, 21-25, 15-13). With the win, York now advances to the semifinals, which will be played on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. at Hunter College. The Cardinals will take on #2 seeded Baruch College.
It seemed like every set got a little bit tougher for York. York cruised to a first-set win before holding off CCNY in the second set. Both teams went back-and-forth in the second set. York held a narrow 21-20 lead but scored four of the final six points to go up 2-0. Things changed in the third as York fell behind early (12-8) after committing three attack errors in four plays. The Cardinals would keep closing the gap only to see CCNY rebound and pull away again.
In the fourth set, things really got away form York, as they fell behind 20-13. But the Cardinals picked up their play from there. With Jhonnattan Fernandez serving, York ran off six consecutive points to cut the deficit to one. But that would be as close as York would get in the set as consecutive hitting errors gave CCNY a three-point lead (22-19). The Beavers would eventually even up the match with a kill by Nick Siriban.
In the fifth and deciding set, York jumped out to a 9-5 lead after a service ace by Bryan Williams. A few points later, following a kill by Edner Geffard, the Cardinals looked to have a commanding 13-10 lead. CCNY had one more rally in them, rattling off three straight points to tie the match at 13-13. But the Cardinals would not be denied. Geffard responded with a kill for York to set up match point and then a hitting error by CCNY clinched the match for the Cardinals.
Geffard led the way for York, with 21 kills, six digs and five blocks. Francis Jimenez chipped in ten kills and seven digs and Terrence Sutton had eight kills and a team-high 12 digs. Jon Peter Sardea added 24 assists, while Glenn Vargas had 21 assists. Fernandez and Williams also contributed with six kills apiece. York improves to 19-13 with the win.
CCNY was paced by Siriban who finished with a match-high 22 kills and six blocks. Brandon Reeves had 11 kills and hit .455 and Xie Xihe had a match-high 13 digs. CCNY finishes the season with a record of 9-23.
It will be the fourth straight year the Cardinals have reached the semifinal round and they will hope to advance to the finals for the first time during that span.
#5 Brooklyn defeated #4 Lehman, 3-0 (25-23, 29-27, 25-20) • Boxscore
The #5 seeded Brooklyn College upset the #4 seeded Lehman College Lightning in straight sets, 3-0 (25-23, 29-27, 25-20), in the quarterfinals of the City University of New York Athletic Conference / Con Edison Men's Volleyball Championships at the Apex on the campus of Lehman College.
BC will now advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2007. The match is set for Thursday, April 12th, as the Bulldogs will look to pull off another upset as they take on the top seeded and host Hunter College Hawks at 6:00 pm. The Hawks, who are currently ranked #11 in the nation, cruised past #8 Medgar Evers College 3-0 (25-4, 25-5, 25-6), in its quarterfinals match.
Hunter swept the Bulldogs in their regular season series, as the Hawks won 3-0 (25-6, 25-16, 25-17) on February 16th and 3-0 (25-11, 25-11, 25-15) on March 3rd. The championship final will also be held on Thursday at 8:00 pm.
Brooklyn was led by senior Keiran Halton, who totaled a team-best 14 kills with a .571 hitting percentage, while sophomore Alexander Shlivko added 12 kills with a .556 hitting percentage and two service aces. Senior Gene Tom helped pace the offense with 34 assists, while sophomore Timothy Hui chipped in with 10 digs on the defensive side of the ball.
As a team, the Bulldogs hit a solid .330 (46 kills-16 errors-91 total attacks) for the match.
Brian Francisco led the way with 16 kills in the loss, while Miguel Gallardo chipped in 26 assists for a Lightning team that finishes the season at 14-13.
“We went into tonight's match with a solid game plan,” said head coach Michael Salak, who is in his first season at the helm of the BC Men's Volleyball program. “Lehman started with an unexpected lineup and our guys responded beautifully. We made early adjustments that Lehman had no answer for. All of the hard work and dedication our guys put into this season has really come to the surface. Our whole coaching staff is incredibly proud of our team.”
Brooklyn improves to 10-14 overall, its first double digit win season since 2007, when the team went 16-8 on the year. Lehman falls to 14-13 overall on the season.
All matches at all sites offer free admission. However, for the semifinal and championship round at Hunter College on Thursday, April 12, fans must register for tickets at cunyathletics.com/tickets or here.
- www.cunyathletics.com -