The No. 2 seeded Baruch Bearcats (20-16) shocked the top-seeded Hunter Hawks (24-11), 21-30, 30-27, 30-19, 30-22, to capture their second consecutive CUNYAC Men’s Volleyball Championship on Thursday evening at Baruch College.
“I’m just so happy that my seniors will get to go out having won two consecutive championships,” said Baruch head coach Justin Stack. “We put a great amount of pressure on Hunter tonight and were able to take advantage of their miscues. The guys gained some momentum in the second game and did a good job of riding it the whole way.”
Sophomore middle blocker Danial Levent earned Tournament Most Valuable Player honors for the second consecutive year after racking up 12 blocks and seven kills. “This was the best match that we played all season,” Levent said. “We were extremely hungry tonight and this was a total team effort.”
The Bearcats, who lost all three contests with Hunter during the regular season, dropped the opening set but rallied to win three consecutive games. Playing in front of their boisterous home crowd, the Bearcats caught fire in game two and the Hawks could do nothing to stem the tide. “Our crowd really helped us tonight,” claimed freshman Stephen Hansen. “It was an amazing feeling to have them cheering us on.”
Baruch, who enjoyed a sensational .367 hitting percentage, received a team-high 21 kills (.385) from senior outside hitter Greg Waldvogel. Hansen and Steven Rouse each added 12 kills.
Hunter, who went a perfect 14-0 during the conference regular-season, were led by Lucas Lyszak’s 22 kills and six digs. Zacarias Ripoll added 15 kills and Velislav Danailov added a match-high 55 assists.
Baruch gained the championship match by defeating No. 3 Brooklyn, 3-1, earlier in the evening. Hansen led the Bearcats with 15 kills and Waldvogel added 14 kills and 13 digs. Kwan Tong Ma and David Mayerson each tallied 15 kills for the Bridges.
Hunter swept CCNY in the other semifinal as Lyszak finished with 14 kills and Ripoll added 12 kills and 13 digs. Malcome Jerome led the Beavers with 12 kills.
The All-Tournament Team consisted of: Zacarias Ripoll, Lucas Lyszak, Greg Waldvogel, Stephen Hansen, Jerome (CCNY), and Ma (Brooklyn).