Mahwah, NJ – On Saturday, January 15, the men's volleyball team kicked off the 2011 season with a multi-match held at #15 Ramapo. The Hawks, after losing to the host institution in a five set bout, (14-25, 19-25, 25-23, 25-20, 12-15), bounced back in their second match of the day where they defeated Newbury, coming away with a win in the fifth and deciding set (25-20, 17-25, 25-15, 24-26, 9-15). Hunter now stands at 1-1 on the season.

In the first match of the day, Ramapo, ranked #15 in the nation, proved why they are in the top-15 as they came out firing on all cylinders, taking a quick 2-0 lead by way of 25-14 and 25-19 sets. However, after a slow start, the Hawks quickly stepped up their level of play and rallied to take the following two sets on the strength of 13 and 12 kills respectively. In the fifth and deciding set, Hunter found themselves down 14-8, but put in a four point surge to close the gap, but it was stopped on a kill by Colin Martinez to seal the win for Ramapo.

Senior Eric Barty led the way with a game high of 22 kills while freshman setter, Stanley Martinez, recorded 42 assists. Ramapo had three players in double digit kills while setter Andrew Balint posted a game high 43 assists.

In the second match of the day against Newbury, each team went back and forth splitting the first four sets to force a fifth. Knotted at 5-5, a kill by Barty sparked a 4-0 run to give Hunter a four point cushion which was just enough to keep the Roadrunners away as they reached the 15 point mark first to earn their first win of the 2011 season.

Barty led the Hawks with 12 kills and had help from John Gemegah who totaled 10 and Martinez who tallied 38 assists.

The Hawks return to action Tuesday, January 18 when they travel up state to New Paltz, New York to take on SUNY New Paltz at 7:00 pm.