NEW YORK, NY - The Medgar Evers College men's volleyball team was defeated by Hunter College in the CUNYAC Playoff Semifinals at the Hunter Sportsplex on Friday, April 12. 

The #4-seeded Cougars (16-7) fell to the #1 seed Hawks (18-12) in straight sets (25-19, 25-10, 25-13).

Hunter was heavily favored heading into the contest, having defeated MEC 3-0 earlier in the season as well as nationally-ranked New Paltz. However, the Cougars kept the score extremely close throughout the first set. After a Nius St. Clair kill made the score 22-19 Hawks, the purple team was able to close out the set with three straight points.

In the second set, both teams committed just two errors, but Hunter outkilled Medgar 15 to 6 as the Hawks dominated the second frame, hitting at an absurd .542 clip.

The Cougars quickly fell behind 15-3 in the third set and were unable to make up the ground quickly enough before the top-seeded team put the match away.

Enmanuel Jaquez finished with a team-best seven kills and added four digs, while Nius St. Clair contributed six kills, three digs and two blocks. Kareem Cyrus added nine assists and six digs, Sebastiann Perez chipped in six digs and Jovan Scott finished with two kills and three blocks.

The defeat concludes the best season in recent memory for Medgar Evers men's volleyball. Their total of 16 wins eclipsed the total of 15 victories for the program from 2012 to 2018. This was the first winning season for the Cougars since 2003, and a quintet of Cougars were recognized at the CUNYAC postseason awards.

The team was projected to finish dead last in the CUNYAC preseason coaches' poll.