Jamaica, NY - - -The top-seeded Hunter Hawks (19-10) held on to defeat the #2 seeded Baruch Bearcats (14-9), 30-27, 30-24, 27-30, 29-31, 15-13, to win the 2005 CUNYAC Men's Volleyball Championship, Thursday evening at York College.
After dropping the first two games, Baruch fought all the way back and led 9-8 in the fifth and deciding set, but the Hawks refused to cave in and went on to win their third consecutive title.
“Our team showed their character tonight,” said Hunter head coach Ray Bello. “There was a huge momentum shift that went in favor of Baruch and our guys refused to give up. Baruch was awesome and they did a great job of adjusting to everything that we did tonight. I though Justin {Stack} did a great job of coaching and this was the most difficult match they we were involved in all season long.”
"I thought that Ronaldo {DaSilva} and Brandon {Caban} were sensational tonight," continued Bello. "I can't say enough about the way that Ronaldo carried us. And Brandon made great decisions at the setter position all match. All of the guys look to him and he's our quarterback out there."
DaSilva was named the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament as the sophomore outside hitter from Bahia, Brazil recorded 30 kills and 25 kills, including five winners in the fifth and deciding game. “I felt like I had to reach down and be the one to take over this match,” DaSilva said. “I was exhausted but I had to forget about that and bring some energy to the group.”
Trailing 9-8 in game five, DaSilva evened the score for the Hawks with a ferocious kill. Hunter then received a service ace from freshman Mark Brown and DaSilva followed with another kill to give the Hawks an 11-9 advantage. They went up 13-10 following yet another DaSilva put-down, but Baruch closed to within 13-12 after they got a kill from sophomore outside hitter Greg Waldvogal, and were further aided by a blocking error by the Hawks. With Baruch gaining momentum, the Hawks received the break they were looking for when Waldvogal misfired on the next serve. The error gave Hunter match point, and following a DaSilva serving error of his own, junior Joshua Concepcion put an end to the match with the game-winning kill.
Hunter recorded comeback victories in each of the first two games as Baruch led 16-11 in the opener and they also jumped out to a 14-8 advantage in game two. The Bearcats, however, remained poised as Waldvogel (match-high 36 kills) took over game three (12 kills) and game four (8 kills) to force a game five.
Hunter’s Brandon Caban (55 assists, 16 digs in final) and Concepcion each made the All-Tournament Team as did Baruch’s Waldvogel and King Cheng (60 assists, 17 digs in final). Andre Edwin (Medgar Evers) and Marc Meo (York) were also selected.
Hunter advanced to the finals with a 3-0 (30-11, 30-13, 30-28) semifinal vicory over #4 seeded Medgar Evers. Lukas Lyszak led the Hawks with 14 kills and Caban added 40 assists. Medgar Evers received 14 kills from Edwin. Baruch defeated #6 seeded York by a 3-1 margin (30-19, 32-34, 33-31, 30-26) as Waldvogel racked up 23 kills and 19 digs. Meo led York with 18 kills and 23 digs and Daniel Moise added 13 blocks.