New York, NY----Battling in first and third sets that could have gone either way, the Brooklyn College women's volleyball team ultimately fell to Hunter College in the championship match of the CUNYAC Tournament, 3-0 (27-25, 25-12, 26-24), on Friday at Baruch College. Enter the tourney as the No. 2 seed, the defending champion Bulldogs move to 17-13 with the loss. Hunter improves to 19-9 with the victory and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Brooklyn sophomore outside hitters, Aleah Rafat and Tessa Winkleman would be named to the All-Tournament team. Next Up: The Bulldogs will await their continued postseason fate with more to come on Monday.
The Rundown
- Trailing early, the Bulldogs rallied for five straight to take an 8-5 lead capped by a Tessa Winkleman kill to start the match. Hunter responded with seven straight points to take a 17-11 lead. Brooklyn didn't go away and found themselves up 25-24 before the Hawks took the first set with three unanswered scores.
- Hunter carried their momentum from the end of the first set into the second, jumping out to a 20-6 lead and never looking back.
- Brooklyn didn't go away and jumped out to a 5-2 lead to start the third set. BC's Ruti Joshi served up four straight aces to then give Brooklyn an 11-7 advantage. However, the Hawks clawed their way back to a 13-13 draw. The teams would exchange leads down the stretch. Brooklyn gained a 24-23 advantage before Hunter secured the title with a three-score run.
- Hunter was the more efficient team offensively on the evening, hitting ..228 to Brooklyn's .034.
Leading the Bulldogs
- Rafat finished with a team-high 10 kills, 7 digs, and 2 service aces.
- Winkleman added 7 kills, 6 digs, and 2 service aces.
- Joshi came up with five digs and had 3 block assists to go along with her match-high 4 aces.
Leading Hunter
- Mariam Ouatarra put away a match-high 11 kills to earn tournament MVP honors.
- Bethany Tomaneng set for a match-high 36 assists.
