D'Youville Recap  |  Johnson and Wales  |  #14 Stevenson Recap

Union NJ – The men's volleyball team opened up their 2016 season at the Kean University Tournament. The Hawks went 2-1 over the two-day competition which included a win over the #14 ranked Mustangs of Stevenson University.
 
Ben Cruisinberry averaged 13 kills over three matches while Blake Hogan and Steven Tarquinio combined for 54 kills. Setter Nicolas Sanchez added 67 assists and 34 digs while teammate Joseph Muir chipped in with 36 digs of his own. The front line duo of Tarquinio and Daniel Dobrogowski combined for 23 total blocks during the tournament.
 
D'Youville Recap
In the Hawk's first match, they faced D'Youville College. It was a see-saw affair as they swapped wins through the first four sets with the Spartans taking the first and third. Hunter rallied in the first, rattling off six straight points to take a 21-19 lead and then finding themselves at match point, but the Spartans sparked a rally of their own, storming back with four straight points to tie it at 24 apiece. Despite Hunter being up 27-26, D'Youville managed three straight points to take the first set, 29-27.
 
The second was played similar to the first with each side remaining close throughout the set. Hunter took a 23-21 lead on a Tarquinio kill but then two straight Spartan attack errors leveled the playing field at 1-1 after a 25-22 second set.
 
Hunter found themselves down early, 12-4 in the third and struggled the rest of the way. Facing a six point deficit, they were unable to close the gap and lost the third set by a score of 25-17. However, they rallied once again in the fourth, turning the tables and going up 8-2. Extending their lead to nine, the Hawks powered through to 25 points to force a fifth set while holding their counterparts to just 17 points in the fourth.
 
Things looked grim for the Purple and Gold in the fifth as they fell behind 5-0. Slowly chipping away, they pulled even at 11-11. After trading two points each, back-to-back kills by Tarquinio sealed the deal for the Hawks as they won 15-13, securing their first win of the season.
 
Johnson and Wales Recap
In their second match of the afternoon, the Hawks were pitted against the Johnson and Wales Wildcats. Despite losing the first by a close 25-23 decision, Hunter dropped the next two sets 25-17 and 25-15. 
 
The Purple and Gold earned the first four points of the first set, but the Wildcats came running back and took the lead on a ball handling error from Sanchez. The remainder of the set went back and forth but found themselves locked at 21-21. In the final points, a kill from Ryan Kennedy handed the Wildcats the first set win. 
 
Hunter again jumped out to a lead in the second set with four unanswered points giving them a 6-3 advantage.  However a combination of service aces and attack errors from the Hawks allowed JWU to earn nine straight points to lead 16-9. Contributions from Blake Hogan and Tarquinio attempted to cut into the Wildcats' advantage but they were upended by a final set score of 25-17, slipping to 0-2 in the match.
 
With momentum in their favor, the Wildcats continued to press on offense despite the Hawks holding a 10-8 kill advantage in the set. Hunter committed 13 errors in the third set alone to post a negative hitting percentage and ultimately hand Johnson and Wales the set and match. ?
 
#14 Stevenson Recap
The Purple and Gold got off to a slow start, falling behind 13-5 and continued to be down by eight at 19-11. Trying to mount a gradual comeback, Hunter went on a late 4-1 run to pull within five at 23-18. However, facing match point, Crusinberry's kill gave his team 19 points, but Landon Shorts' kill put the nail in the coffin as Stevenson went up 1-0 after a 25-19 first set victory.
 
In the second, each team stayed within three points of one another throughout most of the set.  Crusinberry's kills, coupled with a Stevenson attack error gave Hunter their largest lead in the second, five points at 15-10. After holding a 19-14 advantage, Stevenson fired back with six straight points before a Michael Fehrs service error stopped the bleeding, setting the stage for a 20-20 game. Tied at 23 apiece, Tarquinio's attack error put Hunter up against the ropes but they fought back and with help from two Stevenson errors and another Crusinberry attack, the Hawks tied it up at 1-1 after a 26-24 win.
 
The third set score was 16-13 in favor of the nationally ranked squad after an error by Manfred Lopez. However, Head Coach James Pompeo's squad was quick to get to 25 points as they strung together three series of unanswered points resulting in a 12-3 run over the final 15 points as they put the pressure on the Mustangs, taking a 2-1 set lead.
 
Stevenson took the lead from the first point in the fourth and never looked back. They quickly built up a 12 point lead and used the momentum to power down the home stretch, forcing a fifth and final set after a convincing 25-13 set win.
 
Hunter came out strong in the final set and quickly established a four point lead after going on a 5-2 run. With the stage set at 10-8, four straight Stevenson errors made it match point for Hunter. Not going away quietly, back-to-back Fehrs kills brought it to 14-10, but the upset minded Hawks pulled through as Tarquinio put the nail in the coffin with a kill as they stunned #14 Stevenson, 15-10 in the fifth.
 
Up next, the Hawks will face NYU on Tuesday, January 26 at 7:30 pm. The game will be played at Baruch College due to construction at NYU's gymnasium.