New York, N.Y. - Hunter College men's volleyball kicked off their season on Saturday playing a tri-match at Misericordia University. The Hawks swept Cairn in the first match and took down the host school in a five set thriller. The Hawks are now 2-0 overall this season.
Match 1
The Purple and Gold started the day with a three-set win over Cairn which featured scores of 25-9, 25-10 and 25-15. Hunter recorded a .405 hitting percentage in the victory, while holding the Lightning to a negative mark.
Blake Hogan led the team with 9 kills, hitting .467 off 15 attacks. Sharrod Cole added 6 kills, while Chris Scandole highlighted the defense with 11 digs.
Match 2
The day was completed with a five-set comeback victory over Misericordia in the afternoon as the Hawks took the match with scores of 22-25, 30-32, 25-20, 25-10, and 15-10.
The match started out as a back and forth affair knotted at 7-7. Misericordia then went on a 7-1 run to make their lead 18-10. The Hawks answered with a run of their own as a kill by Shala brought Hunter within two at 18-20. That was as close as the Hawks would get though as a kill by Ryan Miller of Misericordia sealed the set at 22-25.
The Hawks came out strong in the second set jumping out to an 11-6 lead. Misericordia then capitalized on missed serves from Hunter, and used a four point run to tie the game at 18-18. The two teams continued to trade points as both teams had multiple set point opportunities. A kill by Austin Cervasio ended the set at 32-30.
The third set started similar to the first two with both teams trading points. Hunter managed a four point run on Maisonet's serve to push their lead to 22-17. A kill by Shala ended the set at 25-20.
The next set was all Hunter jumping out to a 18-5 lead to decisively win the set 25-10. Hunter hammered home 18 kills in the set and hit .471 as a team.
The fifth set tiebreaker was a back and forth affair. Hunter held a slight lead of 8-6 at the halfway point. Misericordia would never get any closer as an ace from Klinger Ribeiro finished the match at 15-10.
The Trio of Blake Hogan, Christian Maisonet and Quendrim Shala combined for 60 kills in the victory. Setter Alec Helford registered 58 assists while Scandole posted a team-high 23 digs.
The team returns to action on Wednesday, January 29th at for their home opener against SUNY Purchase.
