NEW YORK, N.Y. (Apr. 13, 2018) - For the fourth-consecutive year, it was the Battle of Lexington Avenue that decided a league champion in CUNYAC men's volleyball.

The top-seeded Hunter College men's volleyball team notched a three-peat on Friday night, knocking off second-seeded Baruch College, 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-22), in the 2018 CUNYAC/Pepsi Men's Volleyball Championship at ARC Arena.

The Hawks (23-10), who hit .312 in the opening set and .412 in the second set, recorded a .267 attack percentage in the match to soar to the title.

Freshman opposite hitter Qendrim Shala paced all players with 13 kills on a .414 hitting clip. Junior outside hitter Blake Hogan, who was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, put down 10 kills and totaled nine digs. Senior outside hitter Matthew Zukowski also contributed 10 kills.

"We knew that every time we play Baruch, it's a tough battle. We want to beat them. They want to beat us," said Hogan about the championship match. "This year for us, it's all about blocking. We are a pretty good side-out team. When we play our best, we're getting a good block up there and playing defense around it. When we're getting kills in transition, we really pull away and I think that's what we were able to do tonight."

"We were kind of a new team. We do have five seniors, but everyone else is pretty new to the program," stated Hunter Head Coach Austin Voges. "It's just a lot of hard work and the senior leadership paid off."

In the first set, Hunter jumped out to a couple of early leads, but pulled away late.

Leading 17-15, the Hawks closed out the set on an 8-3 run to earn a 25-18 victory. Hogan and Shala notched three kills apiece in the burst. Shala provided the game-clinching kill, as well.

Then, in the second set, Hunter got out to an 8-4 lead, before Baruch (13-17) rallied with three straight points to cut the deficit to a one-point game.

The Hawks responded though, outscoring their opposition 17-9 from that point to claim an eventual 25-16 win.

Shala was again a catalyst for Hunter, registering three kills. Sophomore middle blocker Cyrus De Guzman tallied four kills and accounted for three of the Hawks' final six points in the set.

In the third and final set of the match, neither side mustered more than a four-point advantage.

The Bearcats clawed their way out of an early 6-2 hole to grab a late 19-16 lead. Sophomore opposite hitter Steven Lopez had a service ace that put Baruch in front for the first time in the set.

Yet, Hunter would not allow their 6 Line opponent to take a game off them, answering with a 9-3 run to close out the match and send the Hawks home with their third title in as many years.

For Baruch, Lopez collected 10 kill and 13 digs for a double-double. Junior opposite hitter Stephen Roach amassed eight kills, six assists, six digs and five blocks.

Hunter now awaits word on where it will be seeded in next week's NCAA Division III Championship.

"The major things are passing, serving and blocking," said Hogan about how his team could make a run in the NCAA Tournament. "We get that done, everything else falls into place."

"We have one week of practice, and we have to play hard," Voges added. "We are going to go up against really tough teams and we have to put a lot of effort in practice, so that it pays off in the game."

2018 CUNYAC/Pepsi Men's Volleyball Championship All-Tournament Team
Most Valuable Player: Blake Hogan, Hunter
Alec Helford, Hunter
Matthew Zukowski, Hunter
Steven Lopez, Baruch
Stephen Roach, Baruch
Yaw Eshun, Lehman
Juan DeJesus, John Jay