January 25, 2024
The battle of lower Manhattan was an absolute gem tonight as Baruch hosted the NYU Violets. Baruch has reloaded, as many teams in the CUNY have, adding 6′ 4″ outside hitter Peter Gavroff as a transfer from D1 Long Island University. Baruch has had talented teams these past years with Jack Centeno, setter Ryan Oommen, and middle Haoxin Hu, all recruits from the class that started school in 2021. NYU on the other hand has been a traditional top 10 team in the National Rankings. And have found some really excellent talent in their freshman pool for 2024 including setter Devyn Nguyen from California to compliment a talented group of Violet’s. Zach Knudsen is considered by IH to be one of the best liberoes in the nation teamed with attackers Buddy Cohen, Luke Boyer, and Ry Kagen. We went into this game thinking NYU would grind to a 4-set victory, but the Bearcats matched the high level of volleyball being played by NYU right to the end of this five-set stunner.
Every set was a nail biter. With the score 18-17 Baruch in set one, Buddy Cohen took over nailing multiple kills over the remainder of the set to secure a 27-25 win for the Violets. Baruch held a 22-19 lead in set 2 and NYU charged late in the set. A Buddy Cohen kill drew them to within one at 23-24 but a clutch kill from sophomore middle hitter Ari Osmanaj gave the second set to the Bearcats. Baruch jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the third set, but NYU rallied to tie the score at 10. They went point for point with multiple tied scores and lead changes until 24-24. NYU got two great plays from with a kill from Devyn Nguyen to go up by one, and then the game winning block from Ry Kagen and Lucas Osiecki on a Peter Gavroff attack. Similar to set 3, The Bearcats jumped out to a big lead at 10-5, but NYU kept chipping away in an effort to put the match away. The score was tied at 13, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24 as each team fought to win the set. But it was a big kill from Haoxin Hu that gave the Bearcats the set 4 win. The fifth and final set was much of the same. Back and forth with each team never getting a two-point lead. NYU had match point at 14-13 but were denied by a service error. They had match point at 15-14 but succumbed to an Oommen kill for the Bearcats. The Violets had a third match point at 16-15 but Jack Centeno had another big kill for the Bearcats. Baruch took the next two points on NYU attack errors to secure the victory. It was just one of those special nights that will long be remembered by Bearcat fans. High energy, fan involvement, spirits high, and some awesome volleyball. Total point counts for the match were Baruch 118, NYU 116.
Individual statistics were plentiful and abundant for both teams. A 54 assist, 12 dig, 3 block effort by NYU’s Devyn Nguyen was in the forefront but the Bearcats got 15 kills from Jack Centeno and 12 from Peter Gavroff in the win. Buddy Cohen had 20 kills for the Violets and hit .643. Middle Haoxin Hu had 9 kills, just one error, hit .533, and put up 8 huge blocks that often picked up the Bearcats momentum. It was a stellar game for both teams and one that will surely boost Baruch into a potential top 20 ranking come the weekend.
In other action, Carthage swept Aurora powered by a number of top performances on the attack. Drew Jansen (10 kills, .471), Ryan Cholewinski (9 kills, .583), Ben Heise (7 kills, .600), and Owen Otto (9 kills, .500) were on the top of their game. Logan Smith pummeled 14 kills and Nate Seeger had 32 assists as Elizabethtown swept Cairn tonight. It was E-town’s first win of the season.
Augustana remained undefeated with a sweep of Edgewood improving to 3-0. Garrett McNelis hit .538 and posted a team leading 8 kills while Aiden Bolen added 7 kills for the Vikings. Will Gehrke posted 26 assists, 5 digs, an ace, and 3 kills for Edgewood while Ryder Hill-Zastrow and Gavin Patterson combined for 17 kills. Augustana has yet to lose a set this season.
Widener wins their opener tonight with a 4-set victory over Wilkes. Josh Matchett had 37 assists, 2 aces, 6 digs, 4 kills, and 2 blocks for the Pride. Matt Christ potted 14 kills and 5 aces for Widener. It was Wilkes first loss of the season. It was a nice night for Jackson Shafer of Wilkes who punched 16 kills, 3 aces, 7 digs, and 3 blocks.
Warren Wilson outlasted Averett in 5 sets tonight. 6′ 6″ junior outside Ian Nicholson put up the most points of any player on the night in the win. 5 aces, 8 digs and 25 kills for Nicholson in tonight’s match.
Noting tonight’s stat leaders: Mason Boyer (Elizabethtown) had 6 aces, Devyn Nyugen (NYU) with 54 assists, 17 digs from Ricky Castillo (Wilson), Ian Nicholson (Wilson) with 25 kills and 66 attacks, and Haoxin Hu (Baruch) with 8 blocks.
The InsideHitter.com Player of the Night for Thursday goes to Baruch middle Haoxin Hu for his awesome performance tonight against NYU. Congrats Haoxin!!!
