The Medgar Evers College men's volleyball team played a road CUNYAC tri-match at Baruch College in New York, NY, on Saturday, March 10.

The Cougars (11-1, 4-1 CUNYAC) fell to the host Bearcats (8-8, 3-0) in the morning match in straight sets (19-25, 16-25, 19-25) before responding with a straight-sets win (25-16, 25-14, 25-18) against York College (2-14, 0-4) immediately after.

The Baruch contest was a sad end to a publicized run as the last remaining undefeated team in NCAA Division III. Still, the team remains strong with an 11-1 overall record this season and is sitting comfortably in third place in the CUNYAC with a 4-1 conference record - not bad for a team which was predicted to finish last in the CUNYAC preseason poll. 

Perhaps it was the 10 am start time the morning after everybody lost an hour of sleep due to daylight savings time, but the Cougars posted a .118 hitting percentage compared to Baruch's .297. Medgar was close towards the end of all three sets, trailing 17-14 in the first, 15-12 in the second, and 20-17 in the third. However, Baruch was able to resist the Cougars pressure unlike MEC's earlier opponents this year and the Bearcats were able to win all three sets.

Enmanuel Jaquez contributed seven kills along with five digs and four aces, while Nius St. Clair led the team with 11 kills. Romell Carter added 18 assists and three blocks while Cody Ramsey had an efficient morning with five kills to just one error on only seven attacks, also contributing three blocks.

MEC looked to be almost on the verge of a collapse vs. York as they immediately trailed 3-0 in the first set after three errors. The Cougars showed their mental toughness and went on a 14-4 run to take a seven-point lead which they held for the rest of the set. 

In set two, the Cougars raced out to a 10-5 lead which soon ballooned to a 21-9 advantage as MEC cruised to a 2-0 lead. 

The beginning of the third set was like a yo-yo, as Medgar would take large leads only to see York storm back. The Cougars took a 9-2 lead before the Cardinals flew back to make the score 10-8. MEC won the next four points before York responded with a 4-0 run of their own. However, the black-and-gold won five of the next six points and never looked back as they wrapped up the straight-set victory.

Gerod Humphrey (9 kills, 0 errors, 16 attacks) and Abdul Kamara (7 kills, 1 error, 12 attacks) both enjoyed efficient attacking afternoons, while Kareem Cyrus contributed 11 assists and five aces and Carter added 10 dimes of his own.

The Cougars will return to action next Saturday, March 16, for another tri-match at the College of Mt. St. Vincent, where they will also play a nonconference match against Lehman College.