NEW YORK, NY – The Hunter College men's volleyball team earned its second-consecutive win this evening, prevailing over the visiting New Jersey City University Golden Knights, 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-19) at the Hunter Sportsplex on Friday evening.

The Hawks improved to 3-6 overall while the Golden Knights fell to 2-5.

Christopher Newcomb registered a team-high 10 kills on .412 attacking to lead the Hawks while John Gemeguh and Braien Otsla each finished with nine apiece. The Hawks finished the night with 47 total kills on .348 attacking and registered four service aces in the victory.

The Hawks were impressive in the first set, grabbing a 25-19 win as an early 7-2 lead. The Golden Knights battled back though, pulling within one (11-10) on a pair of HC attack errors. The Hawks surged back in front thanks to a five point run on three NJCU attack errors, an Otsla kill and service ace from Eric Barty which the Golden Knights could not overcome.

The second set was significantly closer and came down to the wire as both teams went point for point in the early stages of the stanza. The Hawks broke a 6-all tie by rattling off three points to move up 9-6 and then continued the offensive attack. With the Hawks ahead 23-18, the Golden Knights had other plans as the visitors scored four straight points to pull back within one, 23-22. Jerrin Kallickal registered a big kill to make it 24-22 and then after surrendering a NJCU point, Stanley Martinez notched the winning kill to give Hunter the 25-23 victory.

The Hawks returned to dominance in the third and final set, coasting on an early 6-1 lead highlighted by four HC kills but the Golden Knights would battle back once more. With Hunter ahead 20-18, the Hawks notched a point thanks to a Martinez kill and NJCU service error before surrendering a pair of points to make it 23-19. Nino Hot subbed into the contest and proved to be a significant contributor as the freshman outside hitter recorded a pair of kills to close out the 25-19 win.

Hunter returns to action next Thursday, February 16, when it hosts Brooklyn College at 6pm in the Sportsplex.