New York, N.Y.- The top-seeded Hunter College men's volleyball team fell to no. 2 Baruch in the CUNYAC Championship match this evening.
The loss marks the Hawks' first to any conference opponent this season, as they went 14-0 in conference and. 19-7 overall. The astounding season saw Hunter crowned regular season champions for the sixth consecutive season and earning five All-Star Selections in addition to three major awards.
The match lasted four sets with Baruch coming out on top 3-1 (25-20, 25-27, 19-25, 19-25). Hunter got on the board first to start the match but five straight points from Baruch saw the visitors take a 9-6 lead. A back-and-forth battle ensued and the opponents remained within two points of each other until Hunter scored five straight to lead 23-19. Baruch interrupted with a kill from Akil Vaugh, but a responding kill from
Andrew Estiverne from
Cooper Moran followed by a Bearcat error would close out the first set as Hunter went up 1-0.
The second set close from the start with the two teams exchanging points. With the Hawks one point away at 24-22, Baruch scored three straight to take the lead. Rookie of the Year,
Matisse Lee-Maarek responded with a kill to tie up the set 25-25 but Baruch answered with two point to even the score 1-1.
Set no. 3 saw impressive runs from both teams, including strings of six unanswered points by both teams at different points but Baruch would ultimately come out on top 25-19, to go up 2-1 for the night. The final set of the night started off close but the Bearcats ovewhelmed Hunter at thte last moment to win the match with a 25-19 win in the fourh set.
Ted Kim led all players with 19 kills on the night,
Andrew Estiverne followed with 12, while
David Lou added six. Defensively, Lou led with 16 digs, while
Hunter Moran tacked on 12 of his own and
Nick Yao contributed eight.
The two teams were evenly matched throughout the night, with each logging 46 kills and 48 assists. The Bearcats recorded just one more dig than Hunter with 58. Baruch hit for .180 overall while Hunter trailed with .120. At the net, the Bearcats edged out the Hawks with 13 blocks while limiting the no. 1 seed to just two for the night.
Hunter awaits selections for the upcoming NCAA DIII Men's Volleyball tournament as they look to continue their season.
