On Thursday night, Hunter College Hawks shared the floor with Brooklyn College Bulldogs during a home game in Hunter Sportsplex for the City University of New York Athletic Conference women’s volleyball semifinals game.
The continued success of men’s and women’s volleyball teams kept up with the high expectations this season. Undefeated in conference play, Hunter Hawks swept Brooklyn Bulldogs with a score of 3-0. Hawk’s dominant all-time records against Bulldogs have improved to 15-1 since the 2008 season.
Tessa Winklemann, a junior outside hitter , who transferred to Hunter College from Brooklyn College this academic year, had a solid game with four kills and two blocks against her old teammates.
Hawks’ Head Coach Andrew Woodward, also has history with Brooklyn College volleyball. Woodward played for Bulldogs where he was a four-year stand out member. He graduated from Brooklyn College in 2002 and returned to the men’s volleyball program as an assistant coach and as the head coach later on. In 2017, Woodward was inducted into Brooklyn College Hall of Fame.
Excited fans on the purple bleachers were electric from the moment the referee blew their tip-off whistle. Alex Ioukliaevskikh, a sophomore student majoring in political science who was one of the fans watching the semifinals game with his friends, says, “I didn’t know our volleyball team was this competitive.”
Sean Cohen, an undecided freshman, says, “I love volleyball. I play pickup volleyball games with random people at Hunter Gym from time to time.” Women’s sports at Hunter had a huge successful run in CUNYAC within the recent couple of years, especially within women’s swimming & diving and outdoor track & field. Both won the CUNYAC conference championship for three years back to back.
What’s next for the Hawks is the CUNYAC finals on November 10 against number five seed John Jay College Bloodhounds. Since 2007 the Hawks have a held a 22-game win-streaks since 2007 against the Bloodhounds and are favored for the CUNYAC finals matchup. If Hunter Hawks wins this year’s CUNYAC conference finals, it would be their 28th CUNYAC title. GO HAWKS!!!
