Box Score

NEW YORK, N.Y. (Apr. 12, 2019) - In front of a jam-packed crowd at the Hunter Sportsplex, No. 3 seed Baruch College upset top-seeded Hunter College, 3-2 (21-25, 25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 15-12), in the 2019 CUNYAC/Pepsi Men's Volleyball Championship on Friday night.

It was Baruch's first championship since 2015, ending a streak of three consecutive titles won by Hunter. As a result, the Bearcats received the league's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

In the fifth and decisive set, Baruch committed just one attack error and hit at a sizzling .529 clip, en route to a 15-12 win. The Bearcats used a 10-4 run to rally from an early 5-2 deficit and grab a late 12-9 lead, led by three kills apiece from Steven Lopez and Nicholas Godino.

Lopez went on to put the finishing touches on the match, slamming down the championship-winning kill. He finished the contest with 11 kills and 18 digs for a double-double.

"We come out here every day. We work hard. We knew we had to leave everything on the court (to beat Hunter) and I think we did," Godino, the tournament's Most Valuable Player, exclaimed.

Godino had 16 kills and 13 digs, while Artem Zinkin posted 12 kills. Stallone Shankar totaled 41 assists and 11 digs. Kyriakos Semertzidis racked up 11 digs, as well.

"A sum of things added up to one," said Baruch Head Coach Kevin Edwards about how his team pulled out the win. "We came in as the No. 3 blocking team in the nation. The blocking was tremendous tonight and it put us in a position to be victorious."

Baruch and Hunter, separated by just two miles across Lexington Avenue, split the first four sets. Each time though, Baruch managed to climb out of a one-set hole.

Both teams managed to pull away late in the opening two sets. In the first set, Hunter scored four of the game's final five points in a 25-21 win. Christian Maisonet, who led all players with 24 kills on the night, bookended the spurt with kills.

Then, in the second set, Baruch put up three unanswered points to break a 22-all tie and secure the victory. Lopez and Shankar notched back-to-back kills to close it out.

Hunter dominated the third set to the tune of a 25-19 scoreline, before Baruch responded again in the fourth, winning 25-23 to even the match at two sets apiece.

In addition to Maisonet's performance, Blake Hogan amassed 19 kills and 11 digs for the Hawks. Alec Helford dished out 51 assists. Qendrim Shala contributed nine kills and 14 digs. Cyrus de Guzman slammed down seven kills and rejected six blocks.

Baruch now awaits word on its seeding in the NCAA Division III Championship, while Hunter is in search of an at-large bid to the tournament. The selection show will air Monday (Apr. 15) at 10 a.m. on NCAA.com.