The defending champion Hunter College lost in the Semifinals of the CUNY Athletic Conference volleyball championship today to City College 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-20). CCNY will next face Baruch College for the championship tonight at 8 p.m. The winner will advance to the NCAA Division III championships via automatic bid.
“Hunter played extremely well,” said CCNY head coach Krishna Dass. “We were really focused and prepared. We’re ready for the championship game.”
Game One was a close affair, with City starting the attack. The Beavers jumped out to an 8-4 lead, which prompted a Hunter timeout. Out of the break, Hunter crept back into the game, cutting the lead to 11-10. After a second Hunter timeout, City completed a 7-3 run to make the score 18-13. After a timeout, CCNY held on to win the game 25-20.
Game two was another close game, with neither team gaining a lead of more than three points. Hunter jumped out to a 4-1 lead, forcing CCNY to call a timeout. After the break, CCNY began its comeback, knotting the score at 13-13. CCNY took their first lead of the set at 18-17 and never looked back. The Beavers would eventually win the set 25-23.
Game three was another highly contested one. Neither team gained an advantage early, as they were tied 16-16. Then, City began to assert itself. CCNY finished the set on a 9-4 run, making the score 25-20, to take their semifinal match against Hunter 3-0.
Floriana Garo led the way for CCNY with 18 kills, 2 aces, and 6 digs. She was helped by Nicole Cascone’s 30 assists and 16 digs. Alexis Kinsman and Dalliana Toussaint at 15 and 14 digs respectively.
Hunter was paced by Christine Luebcke’s 11 kills and 10 digs. Katina Boutis added 28 assists while Karolina Koguc and Kim Hirten had 19 and 17 digs respectively.
BOX SCORE