New York, NY – The top seeded Hunter Hawks took down the #4 seeded Brooklyn Bulldogs in the second semifinal round of the CUNYAC Tournament held at the Sportsplex. After a 25-11 first set victory, the Hawks rolled through the next two sets, 25-21 and 25-11 to sweep their counterparts and advance to the championship game for the second straight year.
 
Ben Crusinberry led the attack with a game high 12 kills while both Matthew Zukowski and Steven Tarquinio each chipped in with nine kills apiece. Sebastian Vargas added four service aces in the win while Nicolas Sanchez was the game leader in assists with 38. Defensively, Daniel Dobrogowski came up big at the net with a total of six blocks.
 
The Purple and Gold dominated the team stat line as well as the individual performances. As a team, they hit an impressive .468 and committed just seven errors while holding their counterparts to a .105 hitting percentage and a total of just 26 kills.
 
It was a back and forth affair in the first with either team getting ahead by more than two points in the early stages. The Hawks compiled a four-point run to turn a two point deficit into a two point lead at 14-12 which was capped by a Vargas ace. Crusinberry's kill at 20-17 powered the Hawks through to the end as they used a 6-1 run to cap the first, 25-18.
 
The second was similar to the first, proving to be a tightly contested set until once again the Hawks injected three unanswered points to give themselves a 12-9 advantage. From there, the Bulldogs would get no closer than three points as a set from Sanchez to Tarquinio resulted in a successful kill to give them the 25-21 set win.
 
An early 4-1 lead in the third and final set quickly turned into a 12-6 Hunter advantage in which the Hawks would not give up. Closing out the match in style, the Purple and Gold used a 7-1 run to seal the deal on their semifinal win and secure their spot in the championship.
 
In the first semifinal of the evening, #2 Baruch defeated #3 Lehman, 3-0 to earn their spot in the championship.