CUNYAC Volleyball Presented by Pepsi

Championship Info Championship Central - History

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#1 Hunter Hawks 3, #2 Baruch Bearcats 2 - (23-25, 25-22, 25-16, 18-25, 15-9) - Box Score

The Semifinals and Finals of the 2014 CUNYAC/Pepsi Women’s Volleyball Championship took place at Baruch College today. As has been the case each of the last three years, the Baruch Bearcats and Hunter Hawks advanced for the right to earn the CUNYAC title and the NCAA Automatic Qualifier. Hunter broke tradition on Baruch’s home court by winning their first title in the last four seasons against their biggest nemesis.

   

The match between the two rivals was amplified by the immense crowd support on both sides. Baruch got out to a quick 10-5 lead, backed by kills from four different players. Hunter responded with a balanced attack of their own, evening the score after back to back kills by Taylor Kordich and Julia Connolly. With Hunter leading 12-11, a minute-long volley filled with diving digs and impressive blocks was capped by another Connolly kill. From that point on, the match was as tight as could possibly be. After Baruch’s 10-7 lead was negated, no team was able to maintain a three point lead the rest of the set. Baruch had a chance to break that pattern to clinch the set when the score was 24-22, but a service error derailed that temporarily. Sydney Marks responded in the next game, however, placing a booming kill into the center of court and giving the Bearcats the 25-23 set victory and 1-0 lead.

After dropping the first set, the resolve of the young Hawks team was put on display. The second set started with Lucia Stosic tapping a ball into the vacated center of Baruch’s defense. Two plays later, she demonstrated a more characteristic kill, slamming the ball down the sideline. That play was followed by yet another kill and an untouched service ace by Paulina Jobczyk, giving the Hawks an early 5-1 lead. Baruch clawed their way back into the match, eventually getting the score tied at 10-10. After that point they went on a 7-1 run where Michelle Stommes and Akilah Meulens each had kills. Mistakes by Hunter gave the Bearcats a 22-15 edge, but Hunter began to mount a rally backed by a trio of Taylor Kordich kills. They climbed back to tie the score at 22 apiece and overtook the Bearcats on a Karolina Gajda ace. Julia Connolly capped the unbelievable 10-0 run with two kills, including one that ricocheted off the ceiling, and gave the Hawks an improbably 25-22 victory in set two. The win evened the score at 1-1.

Hunter drew first blood once again in set three and continued the momentum they built at the end of the second set, starting out on a 3-0 run. Baruch tied the score before Hunter went on another 3-0 run to take a 6-3 lead. Baruch kept charging back, but the Hawks were able to negate their push each time. Baruch made it 16-15 on a McKenzie Davidson kill, but once again Hunter responded with an even greater 6-0 run to close out the set.

As was the case in the previous two sets, Hunter struck first. Lucia Stosic had a kill, which was followed up by a Bearcat attacking error and a Julia Connolly kill. Akilah Meulens had a pair of kills to help Baruch tie the set at 5-5 before McKenzie Davidson gave them the 6-5 lead. The teams traded points before Baruch went on a 7-0 run highlighted by a trio of kills by Michelle Stommes. The Hawks didn’t have another improbable run in them this time, as the Bearcats were able to control the second half of the set and win 25-18. Davidson had six kills in the set and Stommes added four kills of her own. The 2014 CUNYAC Championship ultimately would be decided by a fifth set.

In the deciding set, Hunter jumped out to yet another 3-0 lead and never looked back. With the score 12-9 Hunter, a miraculous diving dig by Amy Sung and numerous blocks by the Baruch defense prolonged the volley, but an attacking error killed Baruch's momentum and gave the Hawks the confidence they needed to close out the match. Paulina Jobczyk delivered two straight service aces to give the Hawks the 15-9 set victory, the 3-2 match victory and the 2014 CUNYAC Women’s Volleyball Championship.

“It feels good,” said Hunter coach Val Lang. “The girls embraced that we needed teamwork. Everybody was there for each other. If you want something big, you’ve got to work together.”

For her efforts, Hunter’s Taylor Kordich was named Tournament MVP. The senior recorded 22 kills and a .444 hitting percentage in the tournament, including 10 kills in the Final.

The win gives Hunter an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament beginning next week.

Semifinal Recaps in Match Order

#2 Baruch Bearcats 3, #3 Lehman Lightning 0 (25-11, 25-16, 25-16) - Box Score

NEW YORK, NY – The Baruch women's volleyball team swept Lehman College 3-0 in the CUNYAC Semifinals en route to earning another CUNYAC Championship Game appearance.

“I feel pretty confident. We were able to spread the ball around and use all of our hitters,” said Baruch coach Carrie Thomas.

The Bearcats only trailed three times during the three set sweep. Baruch came out rolling early in the first set, jumping out to a dominating 8-1 lead. After taking a timeout, the Lightning responded by winning the next three points, but the Bearcats got back on track and took advantage of numerous Lightning attacking errors to win 12 of the next 15 points. Baruch closed out the set 25-11 after a long series of plays ended with a Cari English attack sailing long.

The teams traded points early in the second set and were tied 8-8. Baruch once again took control after that fairly matched start, taking 7 of the next 8 points off of strong attacking by senior captain Michelle Stommes and junior Sydney Parks. Lehman kept the match competitive but ultimately a pair of kills by Parks gave the Bearcats a 25-16 victory in set two.

The teams once again traded points and kept the match close early in the third set until a trick attack by Baruch setter Crystle Dela Cruz split the Lehman defense. Baruch followed with a service ace by Alessandra Chavez, and then Lehman commited a pair of error that gave the Bearcats a 11-8 lead. Lehman managed a kill and a service ace to make it 11-10, but Baruch retaliated by taking the next six points. Dela Cruz had a service ace, Stommes had two kills, and Akilah Meulens and Sydney Parks added one kill  apiece during that stretch. Stommes closed out the match with three straight kills to give Baruch 25-16 set win and 3-0 match victory.

Michelle Stommes, a 2014 CUNYAC second team All-Star, had 14 kills for the Bearcats and hit an impressive .423%. Teammate Sydney Parks, a first team All-Star,  also had double digit kills with 10 and had a .455 hitting percentage. As a team, Baruch hit .281% compared to Lehman’s .040%.

Baruch moves on to the CUNYAC Finals for the fourth straight season and awaits the winner of the 6pm Semifinals matchup.

#1 Hunter Hawks 3, #4 CCNY Beavers 0 (25-11, 25-13, 25-12) - Box Score

The Hawks came into their semifinal matchup against CCNY as the heavy favorites, and they did not disappoint. Hunter used their raw power to dispose of the Beavers 3-0 (25-11, 25-13, 25-12) and earned the right to face off against the Baruch Bearcats in the Final for the fourth straight year.

“We had a nice rotation going on and we took control early,” said Hunter coach Val Lang. “We have a strong starting line and it’ll be tough to beat.”

The Hawks dominated play in the first set, rattling off seven straight points to win the set 25-11. Karolina Gadja and 2014 CUNYAC Rookie of the Year Julia Connolly each had three kills apiece in the set. Paulina Jobczyk capped the first set victory with her second service ace of the match. Hunter flew out to a 3-0 lead, but CCNY managed to stay alive, keeping the set tied at 5-5. Hunter got on a roll and rattled off 20 of the next 26 points.

CCNY took their first lead of the match early in the second set, jumping out to a 4-2 lead over the #1 seed. However, the Beavers committed attacking errors on three of the next four plays, allowing Hunter to open up a 6-4 lead. CCNY stayed in the set, eventually tying the match at 10-10, but ultimately Hunter grasped control of the set. A trio of service aces by Jobczyk and four kills by 2014 Player of the Year Lucia Stosic aided the Hawks in opening up a comfortable 20-10 lead. The Hawks went on to win the set 25-13.

The third set began sloppy, with five of the first seven points being awarded due to service or attacking errors. A thunderous kill by Karolina Gadja broke a 5-5 tie and shifted the momentum of the set. Julia Connolly had four kills and Taylor Kordich had three kills on a run that saw Hunter open up a 18-10 lead. Karolina Gadja earned four of the final seven points for Hunter on devastating kills that CCNY had no chance to return as Hunter took set three 25-12.

Lucia Stosic had 6 of her 10 kills in the second set and hit .500  on the match.. Paulina Jobczyk posted an impressive 6 service aces during the three set victory, four of which came in set two. As a team, Hunter hit a whopping .386% during the semifinal match.

Hunter advances to the Finals against the Baruch Bearcats, who they’ve played in the Finals each of the last four seasons.

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