Championship Central

Championship Game - #1 Baruch 3, #3 York 1 Box Score

The CUNYAC/Pepsi Men’s Volleyball Championship game featured the #1 seeded Baruch Bearcats and #3 seeded York Cardinals. The Bearcats clinched their sixth straight title despite falling in the first set by a final score of 3-1 (19-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-14). The Tournament MVP was Baruch’s sophomore Yanni Malo.

“It’s a brand new experience as a first year coach,” said Baruch head coach Danial Levent. “It was cool to see them come together and win the title.”

York came out with a unmatched energy to take the first set 25-19. Errors were dictating the score until the Cardinals’ Sebastien Francois smashed three consecutive kills to put York up 9-7. From there, the Cardinals would not relinquish the lead with Bryan Williams knocking down four kills along the way. Teammate Avinash Thomas added eight assists and one dig during the set. Baruch’s Chris Kaimis posted five kills, three digs and hit .833 and teammate Scott Standring recorded seven assists.

The experienced Bearcat squad would not be shaken. Back and forth play dictated the second set early on but Baruch’s Brady Ambro, Steven Coniglio, and Jack McKee slammed a kill each to give the Bearcats breathing room at 11-8. Strong play by the Cardinals and errors by Baruch tied the set at 16 capped by a Leszek Stankiewicz kill. The Bearcats led just 21-20 but York shared the momentum until Yanni Malo emphatically knocked in the next point. Malo continued the powerful play with two more kills to end the set 25-21.

Baruch’s Standring came to set early in the third set and set the tone with three consecutive service aces that combined with two kills from Malo for an early 6-2 lead. The Bearcats would not relinquish the lead from there with kills and aces stopping any Cardinal momentum before it could get started as Baruch took the 2-1 set lead with a 25-16 third set victory.

The fourth set was close until the trio of Ambro, Coniglio, and McKee slammed home three kills that gave Baruch a 7-4 lead that they would not let slip. Strong play all around gave Baruch a 25-14 fourth set win and a 3-1 match victory that was capped by a solo block by Malo to end the night (Baruch Video).

Malo exclaimed, “It’s a dream come true! That’s pretty much all I can describe it as.”

Leading the way for the Bearcats was Malo with 13 kills while hitting an outstanding .600. Senior McKee chipped in 12 kills while Chris Kaimis registered 11 kills. Standring finished with 43 assists, 8 digs, and 5 aces.

For the Cardinals, Williams finished with 12 kills while hitting .333 with Randy Adams adding 9 kills and Thomas dishing 29 assists.

All-Tournament Team

Yanni Maol, Baruch - Tournament MVP

Stanley Martinez, Hunter

Mihail Osipov, Brooklyn

Randy Adams, York

Bryan Williams, York

Scott Standring, Baruch

Chris Kaimis, Baruch

Semifinal 2 - #1 Baruch 3, #4 Brooklyn 0 Box Score

In the second match up #1 seeded Baruch faced #4 seeded Brooklyn to earn their spot in the finals against York.

“Our guys played hard,” said head coach Danial Levent. “The game plan was to be solid and it showed all around.”

The first set went to Baruch. A very determined Baruch offense was led by Jack McKee and Steven Coniglio with two kills each. McKee hit .500 with one dig and Coniglio hit .667. For Brooklyn, David Dimitruk and Mihail Osipov led the offense with total of seven kills and four digs.

The battle for the second set went to Baruch, but Brooklyn kept it close (25-20). McKee had two kills and a total of four for the match and one service ace. Brady Ambro also contributed with two kills and hit .500. For Brooklyn, Osipov led all with nine overall kills and hit .556 for the set. Anthony Koyfman added three kills.

In the third set Baruch shutout Brooklyn with a final score of 3-0. After the third set, Baruch’s total hitting averaged .224 with Yanni Malo hitting .714. He and Jack McKee both tallied five kills and one service ace each. Chris Kaimis had eight kills and Scott Standring added 22 assists throughout the three sets. The Bulldogs hit .046 in the third and final set. Brooklyn’s rookie Mihail Osipov ended up with 11 kills and Timothy Hui tallied 20 assists.

CUNYAC Player of the Year Jack McKee commented on the Bearcat win: “It feels good. Im excited to get to play in the CUNYAC Championship. Not a lot of players get to experience it, but I was fortunate it enough to compete in it in all of my four years.”

Jack McKee compiled five kills, one service ace, five digs, and one block assist.

Semifinal 1 - #3 York 3, #2 Hunter 2 Box Score

The CUNYAC Men’s Volleyball Championship Tournament took place today at Baruch College. In the first matchup, #2 seeded Hunter faced #3 seeded York in a heated battle to earn a spot in the finals.

The first set went to York and Hunter took the second to tie the match at one set apiece. After  two sets of competition, Bryan Williams and Thomas Avinash led the offense for York with 5 kills and 16 assists, respectively. Williams hit .500 with one service ace and two digs. Avinash added one service ace to the competition. For Hunter, Alexandru Barbulescu, Ben Crusinberry and Stanley Martinez led the offensive crusade. Barbulescu and Crusinberry tallied 5 kills each and combined hit over .900. Martinez added 15 assists and one service ace.

The third set ended with a Hunter victory 25-15 and put them up 2-1 in the match. For the Hawks, Crusinberry added 2 kills and a dig and Martinez tallied 10 assists in the set. Cardinals’ Williams added 3 kills while Avinash compiled 6 assists.

The fourth set ended with a York win, tying the match at two sets each, and forcing the match to see a fifth and final set. After the fourth set, York’s hitting totaled .165 with Williams tallying 14 kills and 3 service aces. Leszek Stankiewicz compiled 13 kills for the Cardinals and Avinash added 14 assists, totaling 41 assists in 3 sets. The Hawks hit .273 after four sets with Tarquino and Crusinberry leading the offense with 11 and 9 kills, respectively. Martinez added 5 assists to Hunter’s efforts.

In an intense fifth set, Hunter came from behind to tie the set at 11. The next four points would go to York and the Cardinals would advance to the finals at 8 PM.

“I was in tears after the win,” said head coach Andre Titus. “There was a lot of energy throughout and we need to keep the energy up.”

Bryan Williams compiled 17 kills with a .400 hitting percentage, 3 service aces, 11 digs and 1 block assist.

“I am very excited about the win,” said Williams. “This is my last year so I was more than prepared going into this match.”