Box Score

The No. 2 seeded Hawks of Hunter College defeated the No. 3 seeded Lightning of Lehman College by scores of 30-11, 30-23, and 30-15 Friday evening in the semifinal round of the 2010 City University of New York Men's Volleyball Tournament at the Sportsplex in New York, NY. With the victory, Hunter advances to the championship game against the No. 1 seeded Bearcats of Baruch College, while the Lightning (15-11 Overall) will await word on a possible ECAC berth.

The Hawks were led by Jeremy Grubler who paced his squad with a match-high 12 kills to go along with three block assists. He hit an incredible .611 on the evening, only making one error. Braien Otsla added 10 kills and a pair of digs. John Gemegah added eight kills and three assists, and Christopher Newcomb chipped in with seven kills. Finally, it was standout Zacarias Ripoll-Cid posting a match-high 41 assists to go along with seven digs.

Despite the loss for Lehman College, RJ LeBlanc paced the Lightning with eight kills while Nate Martin tallied five kills and six digs. Angel Fernandez put forth a strong effort with 16 assists and a pair of digs, and Kelvis Castro tallied three kills and four digs. Following the loss, head coach Wolfgang Lucena gave his thoughts.

“I'm very proud of the effort our team put forth tonight,” Lucena said. “Despite the fact that the result did not go in our favor, I think we left it all out there on the court. Our season isn't over yet, and if we do get selected to play in the ECAC tournament, we'll be ready for that.”

The Hawks tallied 51 kills in the match compared to 18 for Lehman College, and Hunter also edged the Lightning 46-17 in assists. The Hawks also tallied 32 digs on the evening compared to 20 for Lehman College.