New York, NY - The men's volleyball team remained perfect and advanced their CUNYAC record to 7-0 after taking care of the Bloodhounds of John Jay handily in straight sets. With kills coming from eight different players and a total of 18 blocks, Hunter was dominant on both ends of the court, rolling through their counterparts, 25-7, 25-17, 25-19 and pushing their overall record out to 12-6 in the process.
Steven Tarquinio led the way with eight kills on just 11 total attempts for a .727 hitting percentage while also tallying one solo block and six block assists.
Austen Rerick chalked up six kills and as many digs while
Joseph Muir was solid defensively with 12 digs. Benjamin Crusinberry logged seven kills and four block assists and
Benjamin Cassidy took care of the setting duties with 16 assists.
Hunter wasted no time in the first going ahead 3-0 and then 8-1. The Hawks then unleashed 12 straight points, capped by a kill from
Blake Hogan, to set the scoreboard at 20-2. One John Jay attack error, coupled with kills from Rerick, Crusinberry, Hogan and Tarquinio closed the page on the first set in solid fashion, 25-7 to take a 1-0 lead.
Despite falling behind 3-1 in the second, Hunter, with a little help from John Jay miscues, unraveled a 9-0 run before the Bloodhound's Francisco Miranda stopped the bleeding at 10-4. However, Hunter once again flexed their offensive muscles and put in another run of 5-1, making it a 10 point affair at 15-5. Despite the hosts pulling within five at 20-15, two home team attack errors coupled with kills from Cursinberry and Rerick gave Hunter a 2-0 set advantage with second frame score of 25-17.
Unlike the initial two sets, John Jay stayed close throughout the entire third and final act. The Bloodhounds tied the game on seven different occasions with the final one coming at the 12-12 mark. However, Hunter pulled away by five after a kill by Rerick, service ace from the hands of
Matthew Zukowski and a Juan Dejesus service error, putting John Jay against the ropes and down by five in the latter stages of the set. The were able to pull within four, but it was too little too late as Zukowski's kill secured the penultimate point while Tarquinio's ace put the nail in the coffin on a 25-19 third set victory.
Hunter returns to action on Tuesday, March 1 when they host Ramapo College at 6pm.
