NEW YORK, NY - The #2 seeded men's volleyball team will take on the #3 Cardinals of York College in Friday's Semi-final round of the CUNYAC/Shleppers Men's Volleyball Championship. Hosted by the Hawks on their home court at the Sportsplex, Hunter will take to the stage for the first of two semi-final games with the championship match to follow. They face York College at 4pm while Baruch and Lehman square off at 6pm. The winners of each game will meet at 8pm and the victor will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championship Tournament.
 
The Purple and Gold (20-12, 15-1) secured the second seed in the tournament by way of their 15 conference wins. Their only CUNYAC loss came at the hands of Baruch College in their final bout of the regular season and despite matching their counterpart's in-conference record, the tie-breaker went to the Bearcats.
 
The Hawks have been on a hot streak as of late, closing out the regular season by winning 13 of their final 18 contests and using the momentum to power through #7 CSI in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament. In the 3-0 first round victory, Head Coach Ray Bello's squad did not allow the Dolphins to score more than 15 points in a single set and were equally as impressive on the offensive end with 36 team kills.
 
To date, Hunter leads the conference in opponent hitting percentage (.131) and is second in hitting percentage (.233) and service aces per set (1.97). On an individual basis, Brandon Kohler tops the conference in hitting percentage (.386) while teammate Gary Anderson Jr. is second in assists per set (7.75).
 
The Hawks are powered by the arms of Kohler, Steven Tarquinio, Ben Crusinberry, Benjamin Cassidy and Mehmet Ozturk, all of whom have reached triple digits in kills. Their main setter, Anderson Jr., tallied 584 assists so far while on the defensive end, Tarquinio leads the team with 13 solo blocks, 76 block assists and 89 total blocks.
 
Meanwhile, York (16-17, 13-4) has also been riding late season momentum to power through their quarterfinal round against CCNY in straight sets. The win marks their 10^th in the last 14 games. The Cardinals are driven by Edner Geffrard and Randy Adams who have combined for 537 kills while teammates Sebastien Francois and Anson Webb each have over 140 kills. Additionally, they have three capable setters in Androw Soliman, Francois and Andrew Hass who have totaled a combined 682 assists; well over half of the team's total assists.
 
2015 CUNYAC/Shleppers Men's Volleyball Championship Seeds
#1 Baruch
#2 Hunter
#3 York
#4 John Jay
#5 Lehman
#6 CCNY
#7 CSI
#8 Medgar Evers
 
Semi-Final #1   -   #2 Hunter vs. #4 York @ 4pm  Live Stats | Live Video
Semi-Final #2   -   #1 Baruch vs. #5 Lehman @ 6pm  Live Stats | Live Video
Championship 8pm on ESPN 3  Live Stats | Live Video
 
To register for free tickets, click here.