CUNYAC Men’s Volleyball Presented by USS

CUNYAC Men’s Volleyball Final, #2 Baruch vs. #1 Hunter

For the third consecutive season, Lexington Avenue rivals Hunter and Baruch met in the CUNYAC Men’s Volleyball Finals. The defending champion Hunter Hawks looked to retain their title in front of a home crowd while Baruch was looking for revenge from last year’s loss. Hunter would lay claim to their second consecutive CUNYAC title despite Baruch hanging on for nearly every step of the way, 3 sets to 1.

“I’ve never been on a team with guys that work so hard together both on and off the court,” said CUNYAC Tournament MVP, Hunter’s Steven Tarquinio. “Winning and making the school proud and each other proud is what keeps us going together.”

The Hawks started off with a solid 6-3 lead after a huge block by Steven Tarquinio to end a huge rally. Hunter then started a dominant 4-1 run with multiple kills and blocks that pumped up the Hawk-heavy crowd. Baruch then started a solid comeback bringing the score to 15-15 with three kills in a row. After a long rally, Libero Kyriakos Semertzidis made a huge save against the wall leading to a Baruch point. This forced Hunter to call a timeout which boosted the team with a huge momentum change. The Bearcats held off the Hawks late surge, and hung on to claim the set ending block. The final score of the set was 25-23.

Hunter started off the next set with an early 9-4 lead that got the home crowd on their feet and built momentum. Captain Steven Tarquinio and outside hitter Ben Crusinberry picked up multiple points for the Hawks as they pushed to even the match. A block and a dig, which then resulted in a Hawks kill brought their lead to 15-9 which forced a timeout from the Bearcats. The Hawks never looked back and evened the match with a 25-19 victory.

The third set started with Baruch leading 7-4 early. Hunter then erased the deficit with a quick 3-0 run that changed the momentum of the match. After multiple rallies Hunter found themselves taking the lead 10-9 after another kill by Crusinberry. The Hawks defense, led by Libero Joseph Muir, racked up 3 digs in one rally, resulting in a counter attack by Crusinberry giving the Hawks a 15-13 lead. Crusinberry continued his hot streak and got 2 more kills. Hunter did not look back, finished strong, and won the set 25-18. Setter Nicolas Sanchez had 14 assists during the set and placed the ball ideally for his teammates.

The Bearcats jumped to an early 6-3 lead from several unforced errors by the Hawks. The Hawks then regrouped and went on a huge 6-0 run which resulted in a Baruch time out, swinging momentum back in favor of the Hawks. Both teams traded shots within the next few points as Baruch put on a late surge and tied the set at a score of 16-16. The set was filled with long rallies as both teams played smart defense. A Hunter timeout soon followed to try to slow down momentum and gain composure. Both teams again were neck and neck down the stretch however Hunter started to pull away. With match point looming, another long rally was finished off with a tip kill by Brandon Kohler who dropped the ball in over Baruch’s blockers. The Hawks would win the fourth set by a score of 25-21  and claim their second consecutive CUNYAC Championship.

Hunter’s Steven Tarquinio lead the way all evening for the Hawks. In the finals, Tarquinio would rack up 14 kills while boasting a .458 hitting percentage and dominated the net with 5 solo blocks. For his efforts, Tarquinio was named the 2017 CUNYAC Tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

When asked if Tarquinio had any doubts after the first set he said, “no not at all. We beat them twice during the regular season and this was their best game they played against us this year, but we knew that this match was ours for the taking.”

CUNYAC Men’s Volleyball Semifinals, #3 Lehman vs. #2 Baruch

Baruch and Lehman faced off in the first Semifinal match of the CUNYAC Tournament on April 13th at Hunter College. In their first meeting earlier this season, Baruch went on to comfortably win 3 sets to 1. On this night, Baruch would benefit from the outstanding play of their hitters Nicholas Godino and Stephen Roach. The Bearcats once again claimed a strong victory by 3 sets to none.

After the first 6 points of this match, both teams battled back and forth. After several rallies and numerous digs, the score was tied 3-3. However, Baruch then went on a 5-1 run forcing Lehman to call a timeout with the score at 11-7. Lehman found themselves in another hole as they could not stop the numerous kills by Baruch’s outside hitters who scored six of their final seven points during the run. Baruch then hit their stride going on a 14-5 run to end the first set by the score of 25-12. Nicholas Godino had 3 kills and 5 digs during the set.

The Bearcats started with a solid 9-4 lead led due to the pressure they placed on the Lightning, forcing them to make errors. After a quick timeout, Baruch continued to roll thanks to multiple aces by Nathaniel Chin. Godino once again attacked the Lighting with 3 kills within the next 5 points forcing Lehman to call a timeout. Lehman setter Emmanuel Ortiz continued to feed the Lighting hitters with phenomenal sets, but they were stuffed by the Bearcats blockers often. The 2nd set ended with Baruch winning 25-13. Samuel Rabidoux led the set with three blocks for the Bearcats.

The third set began as the closest set all match, with Baruch leading 10-7. Lehman’s back row held their ground with numerous digs against Baruch’s heavy hitters. Baruch then started to heat up going on a quick 4-1 run leading to a Lehman timeout. The timeout didn’t stop Baruch as they went on cruise control and jumped to a 17-9 lead. The Lightning were found in another hole after multiple unforced errors giving the Bearcats a 20-10 lead. Baruch didn’t look back and completed the sweep with a 25-15 set victory. Their attack was too strong led by Stephen Roach and Nicholas Godino who had 12 and 11 kills respectively.

CUNYAC Men’s Volleyball Semifinals, #4 Brooklyn vs. #1 Hunter

In the night’s second semifinal matchup, the Hunter Hawks played host to the Brooklyn Bulldogs. In their first meeting earlier this season, Hunter swept Brooklyn 3 sets to none. Hunter would once again find success over a pesky Brooklyn team that came out strong, 3-0.

This 1st set started off with Brooklyn taking a 6-5 lead thanks to Captain Rudy Zhao, who started the Bulldogs off with two quick kills. Both teams continued to stay neck and neck with the score 10-10 that included 2 long rallies each won by Hunter. The Hawks won the next two points due to aces by Sebastian Vargas and continued to lead 19-16 before Brooklyn called a timeout. The Hawks then took advantage of two miscues by the Bulldogs and led 22-17 before Brooklyn called their 2nd timeout. Hunter finished strong and won the first set by a score of 25-18. Matthew Zukowski led the Hawks with 4 kills and 4 digs.

The 2nd set started off close again as the Hawks and Bulldogs went back and forth trading points. Hunter was the first to reach 10 points due to a kill by Ben Crusinberry that finished a strong Hawks rally. Hunter then went on a quick 4-0 run forcing Brooklyn to call a timeout. Hunter did not stop, and with multiple kills by Michael Jazgarski and Ben Crusinberry they found themselves with a comfortable lead by a score of 20-13 before another Brooklyn timeout. Brooklyn did their best to mount a comeback and scored 4 of the next 5 points but Hunter was too much to hold off and ended up winning the 2nd set 25-21. Ben Crusinberry had a big set with 5 kills and 2 digs.

In the third set, the Hawks started off strong with a commanding 10-5 lead. Brooklyn’s back line could not stop the hard hitting serves and spikes by Crusinberry and Tarquinio who would not relent. Brooklyn tried to mount a comeback but Hunter was too strong and held off their attack. Libero Joseph Muir had a phenomenal set and made several digs setting up kills for his outside hitters. Hunter cruised by with the sweep in the 3rd set by the score of 25-11.