The CCNY Men’s Volleyball team was swept in three straight matches to John Jay College. It is the third time they were swept in three consecutive matches, the fourth time this season and the second time that John Jay College was the culprit. The Bloodhounds won in three straight sets back on Feb. 9th at John Jay College.
“It’s tough. I don’t like to lose,” bemoaned head coach Andrijana Todorovic after the tough loss. “…I don’t know, I think we have a mental problem with the team. I hope we can figure it out, how to solve this problem.”
Sophomore starting setter Oleksandr Boychuck agrees but he feels he knows what the Beavers problem is.
“We lacked energy, effort and communication,” he explained.
In the first set, the action was intense from the first serve on out. There wasn’t a timeout called until 19 points were already on the board, with the Bloodhounds up 10-9 when Todorovic called the first timeout. The match would continue and was back and forth with the lead changing several times. John Jay would eventually prevail, winning the first set 25-19.
A few serves into the second set, the Beavers started looking as sharp as they promise to look in practice. They would continue playing well until they woke John Jay from their slumber. With City up 8-6, the tide would begin to shift, from which the Beavers would never recover. The Bloodhounds would get hot, going on a 5-1 run when Todorovic called the first timeout of the second set.
When asked what she said during this critical timeout Todorovic said, “It was like a wake-up call. I just told them to focus and play harder… We look much better in practice, we don’t show that in the game. I don’t know, the team is down in the game. In the practice, brilliant.”
Taking the lead to never surrender it again, the Bloodhounds smelled blood and began to show their teeth. Not backing down to the threat posed by the Beavers in the beginning of the second set, John Jay would go on a 15-9 run to win the second set 25-21.
With their backs against the wall, facing the possibility of being swept for the third straight time, the Beavers were flat and careless. Unable to capitalize on some very sloppy play and obvious overconfidence on behalf of the visiting team, the Beavers turned in their worst performance of the three sets. With John Jay up by a score of 10-5, the Bloodhounds would force Todorovic to call the team’s second timeout of the set.
The Bloodhounds would lead by as much as nine points in the third set. With the score of 19-10, it appeared inevitable that the Beavers would be swept once again. The Bloodhounds of John Jay would clamp down on the City College Beavers, crushing them to win by a score of 25-17 and handing City their third consecutive loss and fourth overall via a three-set sweep 25-19, 25-21 and 25-17.
The Beavers will be busy this weekend with a match scheduled today against the Vassar College Brewers and a double-header scheduled for Saturday against the Bard College Raptors and the Rutgers-Newark Scarlet Raiders. Currently, the Beavers are 2-8 overall with an 0-6 record in the CUNYAC.
“I would like to see higher atmosphere and better energy.”