BOX SCORE New York, NY – Hunter College men's volleyball fell to Baruch College on Tuesday night in a five-set thriller that featured close scores of 25-19, 25-20, 27-25, 25-22 and 15-11.
With the loss, the Hawks finish the regular season with a 21-9 overall record and a 15-1 conference record.
Blake Hogan and
Ben Crusinberry led the Hawks with 12 and 11 kills, respectively, while
Steven Tarquinio added nine and
Benjamin Cassidy recorded eight.
Nicolas Sanchez had 40 assists and 13 digs in the match as Hogan added 15 digs to lead the team defensively as well.
The team recorded a .123 hitting percentage in the loss, while the Bearcats posted a hitting percentage of .156.
The beginning of the first set featured six tied scores as each team struggled to maintain a steady lead. The Hawks went on a three-point run to lead 12-9 but the Bearcats did not give up, going on a run of their own to tie the set at 15. Hunter would outscore Baruch 7-2 in the remaining points of the set to finally take the first, 25-19 and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Baruch would get the early lead in the second set, quickly making the score 11-5. Kills by Hogan and Cassidy would give the Hawks a 4-0 run to trail by just two points, but the Bearcats continued to score to lead the set 14-10. Hunter never trailed by more than five points, but could not catch up as Baruch closed out the second with two-straight points to take the set, 25-20 and tie the match, 1-1.
The third set was similar to the first with several lead changes, until Hunter would seemingly take control with a two-point lead. From there the Bearcats went on a 7-1 run to lead the set, 16-12. With the Hawks trailing by two at the end of the set, Hunter capitalized by four Baruch errors to take a one-point lead. Hunter finished out the set with three-straight points to win the third, 27-25 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Neither team could maintain a lead in the beginning of the fourth set until Hunter managed to make the score 16-12 off a 4-1 run. The Hawks led by two points at the end of the set but Baruch suddenly scored five-straight points to take the lead and win the fourth, 25-22 to tie the match, 2-2 and send it into the fifth set.
Hunter took a 2-0 lead to start the fifth, but the Bearcats went on a 5-1 run to make the score 5-3. With the score tied at 7, Baruch recorded took advantage of three Hunter errors to take an 11-8 lead. The Hawks recorded a kill to trail by just two points, but could not stop Baruch from closing out the set with a 3-1 run to take the set 15-11 and win the match, 3-2.
The CUNYAC tournament will begin next week, beginning with the quarterfinal round.
