BOX SCORE New York, NY - Hunter College men's volleyball handed the #9 seeded Penn State Altoona Lions a three set loss on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championships, hosted at the Hunter Sportsplex.

"I think it was a team effort today," said head coach Austin Voges. "I didn't have to call any time outs and what we talked about in the huddle was to keep everything going. Our serving was good, our passing was great and we were hitting at a high percentage. The whole team stepped up today."

The Purple and Gold advance to the second round of the tournament for the first time since the 2012 season, when the squad made it to the Final Four. The Hawks will take on #1 seeded Springfield College next Friday in Springfield, Mass.

"What kept the team's morale up was everybody making plays and nobody letting any ball drop," said senior setter Nicolas Sanchez. "That's our mentality from the get. We're not going to give anyone an easy play or an easy point."

Hunter pulled away in the first set by going on a 6-1 run to make the score 15-9. The team closed it out with kills from Brandon Kohler, Steven Tarquinio, Benjamin Cassidy and Michael Jazgarski to take the first, 25-17.

The Lions took the first lead in the second until Tarquinio got hot, recording three-straight kills to guide the Hawks to a two-point lead. Altoona stayed close, not allowing Hunter to stay in control, but a kill from Ben Crusinberry and a service ace from Austen Rerick gave the Hawks the last two points to win the second set, 25-18.

The Hawks capitalized on Lion errors in the third to quickly jump out to a commanding 11-5 lead. The team finished it off with a 9-3 run and Glen Lumentut recorded the last kill of the game to give Hunter a 25-13 win and sweep the match. 

The Hawks posted a stellar .330 hitting percentage in the victory, holding the Lions to a mark of -.020.

Five Hawks recorded five or more kills with Crusinberry leading the fight with nine. Tarquinio, Cassidy and Kohler followed with eight each and Jazgarski added seven. Tarquinio committed just two errors on 13 attacks for a team-leading .462 hitting percentage.

Sanchez posted 37 assists in the win, while Joseph Muir paced the Hunter defense with 15 digs. Kohler recorded a team-high six blocks in the victory.

"We had a great crowd today and our energy was high on the court," said senior middle blocker Tarquinio. "We never let up and if we just ride that energy going forward I think we can make some really big waves in the next round."

The team will return to action on Friday, April 28 when they take on Springfield in the Elite Eight round of the tournament. Hunter faced Springfield earlier this season and fell 3-0.

Hunter Postgame Press Conference
NCAA Championship Tournament Central