Women's Volleyball

Championship Friday: Women's Volleyball Final Four Previews

NEW YORK, N.Y. (Nov. 8, 2019) - The final four are set to face off on Championship Friday in the 2019 CUNY Athletic Conference Women’s Volleyball Championship at the Hunter College Sportsplex this Friday, November 8. In the first match, the No. 4 CCNY Beavers will take on host and the top-seed Hunter Hawks at 3:30 p.m., followed by the No. 2 seeded Baruch Bearcats taking on the No. 3 Brooklyn Bulldogs in the second semifinal at 5:30 pm. The final will be played immediately following at 8:00 p.m. and streamed on Facebook Live and the winner will earn the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA Championships, beginning late next week.

PREVIEWS • #1 HUNTER (13-17, 7-0 CUNY) • Roster • Stats
Fourth year head coach, Alyssa Broccoli, has had a perfect CUNYAC record for her entire four years and the last time the team dropped a match to a conference opponent was back in 2015. This season, they only lost two sets and they were to rivals Baruch College. With the top seed, the Purple and Gold have home court advantage this year and will play at 3:30 pm in the first of the two semifinals vs #4 CCNY. Should they win, they will compete for their sixth championship at 8pm.
 
“I’m extremely proud of our team’s success this season. We have faced numerous challenges this year and have continued to stick together, while holding one another to a high standard and have found much success in doing so. Our out of conference schedule has been extremely tough and I believe matches faced against both nationally and regionally ranked programs will help us in our goal to achieve a sixth straight CUNYAC championship and advance to the NCAA tournament.”
 
Senior Kylie Hurst, the first of four First-Team All-Conference selections for the Hawks led the team in kills (293), aces (31) and ranked second in total digs (330) throughout the year. Justine Smith led the conference with 678 assists on the season and ranked second in the conference in assists per set (7.79). Smith also helped the team defensively totaling over 150 digs on the season. Middle blocker Isabelle Lawrence leads the team in hitting percentage (.255) on the year as well as leading the team and conference in total blocks (81). Opposite Lawrence is middle Kendra Moore who has dominated in conference play this season ranking first with a hitting percentage of .467 against CUNYAC opponents. She ranks second in the conference in blocks per set (.64).
 
PREVIEWS • #2 BARUCH (18-10, 6-1 CUNY) • Roster • Stats
The Baruch College women’s volleyball team won seven more matches this season compared to 2018 and are seeking to make their first appearance in the CUNYAC final since 2016. Anita Sengara, the 2019 CUNYAC Player of the Year, will lead the Bearcats in the semifinals on Friday night against Brooklyn College. Sengara leads the conference with 3.93 kills per set and is fifth in hitting percentage (.251).
 
The Bearcats had their growing pains in 2018, but that proved useful as the majority of players from last season have played big roles this year, starting with CUNYAC all-stars Sanaa Hadjeb (7.29 assists per set), Stella Chung (2.29 kills per set), Yijia Cai ( third in hitting pct., .267 and aces, 0.68) and Sengara. The Bearcats also received solid efforts this season from all-around player Katherine Chen and libero Wai Chang.
 
The Bearcats defeated Brooklyn College earlier this year in four sets and are expecting a very tough battle in the semifinal on Friday night. The Bearcats have not won a championship since 2013 and hope to end the drought.  
 
“It is always a pleasure to be a part of the CUNYAC Championship and it’s an opportunity to showcase all the hard work, courage and sacrifice that was made throughout the year,” said CUNYAC Coach of the Year Kevin Edwards, who was voted the CUNYAC Coach of the Year for the first time in his women’s coaching career also coached the men’s last season to the CUNYAC Championship played at Hunter and he is hoping to regain the magic that night with the women’s team. “Looking forward to leading the Bearcats Friday night and hoping to win a championship and an NCAA berth.”
 
“Going into my second year as captain and third year on the team, I feel like all the hard work and uphill battles we’ve experienced have led us up to this moment,” said Stella Chung. “As a team, we are ready to fight for our lives, give it our all, and win or lose, walk out of that gym with our heads held up high. I am super excited to see what we accomplish tomorrow and have no doubts that we will be proud, no matter the outcome.”
 
PREVIEWS • #3 BROOKLYN (15-13, 5-2 CUNY) • Roster • Stats
Advancing to CUNYAC Women's Volleyball Championship tournament semifinals for the fourth straight year and third under Head Coach Mat Gotowicki, the No. 3 seed Bulldogs will take on No. 2 seed Baruch College at 5:30 pm.  

"We are looking forward to the challenge of playing a very good opponent in Baruch," third year BC Head Coach, Mat Gotowicki would comment. "It's always an exciting atmosphere and its a credit to the team to have the opportunity to play for a conference championship." 

Brooklyn reaches the conference semifinals after sweeping Lehman in convincing fashion in the quarterfinal round on Tuesday. The Bearcats defeated Brooklyn in a close battle during the regular season, 3-1 (25-16, 19-25, 25-21, 25).

Led by 2019 CUNYAC Rookie of the Year, Ashley Fung (315 kills, 221 digs, .193 hitting pct.) and fellow freshman and 2nd Team CUNYAC All-Star, Madison Cronk (2.1 kills, 3.1 digs per set), the Bulldogs will still be relying heavily on sophomore setter and 1st Team CUNYAC All-Star, Ezri Shor (6.1 assists per set), and junior libero and 2nd Team CUNYAC All-Star, Yana Shaposhnikova (4.50 digs per set), to steer the ship having played in the conference semifinals last year. The Bulldogs' middle core of sophomore, Megan Ortiz-Mengedoht, and junior, Nohelia Cedeno, will look to slow down conference Player of the Year, Anita Sengara.  

PREVIEWS • #4 CCNY (12-8, 4-3 CUNY) • Roster • Stats
With a 3-1 victory over John Jay on Tuesday night, the City College of New York women's volleyball team clinched a spot in the CUNY Athletic Conference semifinals for the first time since 2014. CCNY has won 11 of their last 14 since starting the season at 1-5. 

Second Team CUNYAC All-Star Kayla Oge leads the league with a .353 hitting percentage and she also smashes 2.32 kills per set. Nicole Polanco paces the Beavers in both kills (3.14 per set) and digs (2.94 per set), while Oanh Han contributes 2.87 digs per set. Dzeneta Harambasic, meanwhile, is the CUNYAC leader in both assists (7.90 per set) and service aces (0.83 per set). The Beavers are looking to make their first appearance in the CUNYAC championship match since winning the title in 2009.

"I'm very proud of the team for advancing to the CUNYAC semifinals," Head Coach Ana Todorovic said.  "Not only that, but our record this season was the best in nine years! It feels great, and we'll fight hard to win the semifinal against Hunter."

Team previews provided by each school’s Sports Info. office. 

Championships • Friday, Nov. 8
at Hunter College
Tickets for all three contests are free and available at cunyathletics.com/tickets.
* All matches will be broadcast on Facebook Live here!

Quarterfinals - Wednesday, October 30 at Higher Seeds
#4 CCNY 3, #5 John Jay 1 (21-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-21)
#3 Brooklyn 3, #6 Lehman 0 (25-9, 25-6, 25-12)

Semiinals - Friday, November 8 at Hunter College
#1 Hunter vs. #4 CCNY - 3:30 p.m.  • LIVE STATS 
#2 Baruch vs. #3 Brooklyn - 5:30 p.m.  • LIVE STATS
Championship Final at 8 p.m.  • LIVE STATS