Box Score
NEW YORK, N.Y. (Apr. 8, 2022) – In front of a jam-packed crowd at ARC Arena, the No. 2 seed Baruch Bearcats knocked off its archrival and top-seeded Hunter in four sets (25-21, 19-25, 25-21, 26-24) Friday to win the 2022 CUNYAC/Healthfirst Men’s Volleyball Championship. With the victory, Baruch earns the league’s automatic bid to the 2022 NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball Championship.
For a seventeenth time in CUNYAC history, the two Lexington Avenue schools competed to hoist the championship trophy. In the third and final meeting between the two teams this season, Baruch came out on top to win its second consecutive conference title and 12th in program history. Baruch is now 10-7 all-time against Hunter in the conference championship final.
“We knew coming in that it would be a tough match against Hunter. Hunter never gives up. We stressed staying tough and trying to win all the long rallies. We had to show some grit and determination and today these guys stepped up,” said Bearcats head coach
Kevin Edwards.
Jack Centeno, a First Team CUNYAC All-Star, perhaps turned in his best performance of his young collegiate career in the most important spot of the season. The rookie was sensational all night long for the Bearcats, turning in a season-high 26 kills. For his efforts in the final and throughout the championship, the rookie was named the Tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
“I was waiting for that outburst,” said Edwards. “Today we got 26 kills and he showed up. Jack definitely showed up and he will be around for a while.”
In the opening set, Baruch raced out to an early 13-6 lead, led by three kills from Centeno. Hunter battled back to get within one (18-17), but the Bearcats responded with four unanswered points as part of a 7-2 run to win the game, 25-19.
It was a back and forth second set that featured 17 ties and 16 lead changes. Hunter came out on top in the frame, thanks to a kill from
David Lou and an attack error from the Bearcats to knot the contest at one set apiece.
Baruch took a 2-1 series lead in the third set, hitting .351 in the stanza while producing 16 kills en route to a 25-21 win.
Tied 18-18 in the fourth set, Baruch took the lead with a 6-1 run to get within a point of claiming victory. The Hawks fought to the very end, scoring five straight points to knot the game at 24-all. Following a service error from Hunter to give Baruch a 25-24 edge,
Justin Iloulian sealed the win with a block, securing conference bragging rights for the Bearcats.
CUNYAC All-Star
Akil Vaughn was solid, finishing with nine kills and five total blocks, while fellow all-conference performer
Stallone Shankar dished out a match-best 47 assists in the victory. For their efforts, the duo each earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team.
Four Hawks finished with double-digit kills, including a team-best 15 from
Lou and 13 from
Chris Scandole.
Men’s Volleyball Championship All-Tournament Team
Tournament MVP: Jack Centeno
Stallone Shankar, Baruch
Akil Vaughn, Baruch
Chris Scandole. Hunter
Cooper Moran, Hunter
Xhulio Myftari, CCNY
Logan Ramos, John Jay
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