Baruch Breaks Through, Beats Hunter 3-1 For Title
In CUNYAC/Con Edison Women's Volleyball Championship at CCNY

New York, NY -- The Baruch College Bearcaits behind a spirited effort from junior setter Melinda Santiago beat archrival Hunter College for the 2011 CUNY Athletic Conference / Con Edison Women's Volleyball Championship 3 games to 1 (25-14, 20-25, 25-23, 25-22) in the final played at CCNY's Nat Holman Gymnasium on Thursday night.

"We played really well from the beginning and that's what we needed tonight," said Santiago. "I couldn't be happier for this team, because we really came together this year. It was my third time in the championship game and now we're finally going to the NCAA's."

With the result, the Bearcats (24-10) advance to play in the 2011 NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament, which will get underway on Friday, November 11. The team will discover their first round NCAA opponent and location of the eight-team regional on Monday (Time TBA) in a special video broadcast via NCAA.com.

The Bearcats won the opening set, 25-14, in dominant fashion by hitting .412. Hunter responded by winning the second set, 25-20.

During the pivotal third set, the two rivals battled hard and were tied late at 23. Jessica Wu scored the 24th point on a kill off a Melinda Santiago assist. They would go on to win the set, 25-23, on an attack error by Hunter for the important 2-1 lead.

In the fourth set, the two teams were tied again at 18, but the Bearcats stepped up to win the championship. Megan Moody began the run to victory with a service ace, Santiago notched her career-high sixth kill and Hunter committed three attack errors to help Baruch record the clinching 25-22 win for an appearance in next week's NCAA Tournament.

Santiago, who earned Tournament MVP Honors, had a solid match with 35 assists, six digs and six kills hitting a solid .750. Wu and Moody notched 10 kills each, while Rebecca Peralta finished with nine kills and 10 digs.

Wilson, who joins an elite level of players with 2,000 career digs, had 24 total digs this evening to enable her outstanding and popular four-year career to now include a prestigious NCAA appearance.

Lauren Hayden was busy totaling eight kills and four blocks, while Michelle Stommes finished a successful tournament with six kills hitting. 455.

The evening saw a number of historical accomplishments for the women’s volleyball team with Posey Wilson recording her 2,000th career dig and the team winning their fifth all-time CUNYAC Championship. In addition, the team has won at least 24 matches for the third consecutive season and ended an ugly nine-match losing streak to Hunter.

Christine Luebcke banged out 11 kills to lead the Hawks (21-11) while Paulina Jobczyk added 10. Taylor Kordich managed seven kills while Mallory Grubler provided six kills. Katina Boutis led the squad with 33 assists.

All-Tournament Team
Kathy Chu – Brooklyn
Gerri-Ann Martin – Lehman
Christine Luebcke - Hunter
Katina Boutis - Hunter
Jessica Wu – Baruch
Melinda Santiago – Baruch (MVP)

#2 Seed Baruch College bounced #3 Lehman College, 25-11, 25-17, 25-16 in the first of two semifinals at City College in the 2011 CUNY Athletic Conference / Con Edison Women's Volleyball Cht ampionship.

Baruch (23-10) was led by Megan Moody in the match with 12 kills, followed by Michelle Stommes with 10 kills. Junior setter Melinda Santiago had 31 assists. Lehman (12-13) was paced by Gerri-Ann Martin with 10 kills and five digs.

Hunter (21-10) enjoyed 16 kills, six digs and three aces from the reigning CUNYAC Championship MVP, Christine Luebcke and 39 assists from fellow senior Katina Boutis. Brooklyn setter Kathy Chu had 17 assists and four digs in the loss.

also for the third consecutive year; the game will be taped for broadcast by BronxNet for air on CUNY-TV (Channel 75 in NYC) next week (Sunday, November 13) as well.

2011 CUNYAC/Con Edison Championship
Semifinals & Championship (at CCNY)
Thursday, November 3, 2011

#2 Baruch 3, #3 Lehman 0 Boxscore
#1 Hunter 3, Brooklyn 0 Boxsocre

Fans can get their free tickets to the Championship final by using the link below. With each registered ticket you are eligible to win a prize in the CUNYAC Championship drawing.

https://www.mogotix.com/events/5100