The women’s volleyball team defeated Hunter College in four sets (25-14, 20-25, 25-23, 25-22) to win the 2011 CUNYAC/Con Edison Championship on Thursday night at CCNY’s Nat Holman Gymnasium.

With the result, the Bearcats (24-10) advance to play in the 2011 NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament, which will get underway on Friday, November 11. The team will discover their first round NCAA opponent and location of the eight-team regional on Monday (Time TBA) in a special video broadcast via NCAA.com.

The evening saw a number of historical accomplishments for the women’s volleyball team with Posey Wilson recording her 2,000th career dig and the team winning their fifth all-time CUNYAC Championship. In addition, the team has won at least 24 matches for the third consecutive season and ended an ugly nine-match losing streak to Hunter.

The Bearcats won the opening set, 25-14, in dominant fashion by hitting .412. Hunter responded by winning the second set, 25-20.

During the pivotal third set, the two rivals battled hard and were tied late at 23. Jessica Wu scored the 24th point on a kill off a Melinda Santiago assist. They would go on to win the set, 25-23, on an attack error by Hunter for the important 2-1 lead.   

In the fourth set, the two teams were tied again at 18, but the Bearcats stepped up to win the championship. Megan Moody began the run to victory with a service ace, Santiago notched her career-high sixth kill and Hunter committed three attack errors to help Baruch record the clinching 25-22 win for an appearance in next week's NCAA Tournament.

Santiago, who earned Tournament MVP Honors, had a solid match with 35 assists, six digs and six kills hitting a solid .750. Wu and Moody notched 10 kills each, while Rebecca Peralta finished with nine kills and 10 digs.

Wilson, who joins an elite level of players with 2,000 career digs, had 24 total digs this evening to enable her outstanding and popular four-year career to now include a prestigious NCAA appearance.

Lauren Hayden was busy totaling eight kills and four blocks, while Michelle Stommes finished a successful tournament with six kills hitting. 455.  

2011 CUNYAC/Con Edison Championship
Quarterfinals (at Higher Seed)
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
#1 Hunter (8-0) defeated #8 John Jay (2-6), 3-0
#2 Baruch (7-1) defeated #7 York (2-6), 3-0
#3 Lehman (5-3) defeated #6 Staten Island (3-5), 3-0
#4 Brooklyn (5-3) defeated #5 CCNY (4-4), 3-1

Semifinals & Championship (at CCNY)
Thursday, November 3, 2011
#2 Baruch defeated #3 Lehman, 3-0 BOX SCORE
#1 Hunter defeated #4 Brooklyn, 3-0
#2 Baruch defeated #1 Hunter, 3-1 BOX SCORE   

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Kathy Chu, Brooklyn
Gerri-Ann Martin, Lehman
Christine Luebcke, Hunter
Katina Boutis, Hunter
Jessica Wu, Baruch

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Melinda Santiago, Baruch

BARUCH ALL-TIME TOTALS
CUNYAC Tournament Championships:  '83, '94, '95, '05, '11
NCAA Postseason Appearances: '05, '11