The Envoy

A Hunter team faced its biggest challenge in years as the reigning champions of a half-decade barreled down at them on Lexington. Meanwhile, other Hawks’ teams geared up for their seasons ahead. With the winter season concluding and the spring beginning, February proved to be a big one in Hunter’s Commissioner Cup hopes.  

Women’s Basketball

The performance of the women’s basketball team saw the Hawks win the CUNYAC regular season for the first time since 2019.

Star junior guard Alexa Charles, who led the league in rebounding and was top-3 nationwide in scoring, finally helped Hunter dethrone atop the standings Brooklyn College. The Bulldogs had won each of the last four CUNYAC regular seasons and the playoffs. The Hawks saw little trouble from any CUNY competition in February; their only loss came to Brooklyn who they had beaten already.

The playoffs began with Hunter as the first seed. After a first-round bye, the Hawks faced the fourth-seeded John Jay at the Hunter Sportsplex on Feb. 25. 

Despite an early scare, which saw John Jay lead going into the fourth quarter, the Hawks made a massive comeback. Hunter outscored the Bloodhounds 32 to 15 in the final twelve minutes, turning a close game into a blowout by the full-time whistle. 

A 25-point performance from Charles proved decisive, but no impact was felt more than Gianna Henriquez’s. Henriquez tallied nine rebounds in just 23 minutes, the most on the court. Last year, the Hawks’ loss to Brooklyn in the playoffs came after a dominant offensive rebounding performance from the Bulldogs. Hunter had no real center option last year to match with the size of Brooklyn, and Henriquez’s addition in the offseason looked like it would be pivotal to Hutner’s success. 

The anticipated match between Hunter and Brooklyn took place just two days later, on the 27th. The Hawks looked to dethrone the perennial champs, but Brooklyn had just beaten a solid Baruch team in the semis and had good momentum of their own. The Hawks fell to the Bulldogs with a hard fought 59-54 loss.

Despite ending the season with no silverware, the Hawks picked up individual accolades with Charles winning Player of the Year (sharing it with Baruch’s Mia Castillo), Coach John Garett winning Coach of the Year and Erin Cosio making second team all star.

Mens’ Basketball

A disappointing February for the Hawks started brightly. Brooklyn College beat Hunter in a nail-biting overtime victory in January, but on Feb. 4, the Hawks took a double-digit win. Hunter hoped this win would spur them forward after a 2 win 6 loss start to CUNYAC play.

However, four subsequent losses spelled disaster for the Hunter men’s basketball team, who missed the playoffs for the first time since 2019. 

A bright spot came from all-star recognition for Jack Meyers. Averaging 13 points and five rebounds in conference play, Meyers was consistently solid throughout a turbulent season.

Track and Field

The track and field teams sprinted through February at a lightning pace. The CUNYAC championships take place on March 1, so individual Hawks needed to qualify for their events to stand a chance of toppling the dominance Medgar Evers displayed last indoor season.

Jaime Risso did more than qualify; her mark of 11.45m in the Triple Jump placed her 32nd in the nation. Due to her outstanding performances, Risso earned CUNYAC field athlete of the week honors twice in February.

For the men, the standout athlete was Melvil Badier. With conference-topping times in the 800m, 1600m, and 3000m, he was one to watch going into the championships, where he was looking for three individual gold medals. Two runner-of-the-week accolades followed these impressive achievements in February.

Fencing

The men’s and women’s fencing teams’ seasons geared up in February. The men went to three invitationals, and the women went to four. Each invitational consisted of five matches.

Both teams struggled in the Eric Sollee invitational, with the men losing all four of their matches and the women losing all five.

The Hawks’ luck would change at the MACFA B and C round robin, as the men started with two wins over the University of Maryland and the Army before going on a five-match losing streak. 

However, the men then had unfortunate losses at the LIU invitational. The women lost at the FDU invitational, the EWFC championships, and the LIU invitational. These matches rounded off an unfortunate month for the Hawks.

Wrestling

Seven matches in February was a good chance for the men’s wrestling team to gauge their level before regional matches.

Despite losing six of the seven matches, freshman Jayden Medina and sophomore Botensky Bauzile had individually great months. Medina especially shone in his first season at Hunter. The Hawk, wrestling at 149 lbs, had a season record of 23-10 at the end of February, securing important wins for the Hawks as both him and Bauzile qualified for the NCAA regional championships on March 1st. 

Men’s Volleyball

The men’s volleyball season was in full swing, with nine games scheduled for February. Hunter started the month with three straight three-to-zero set losses to Arcadia University, Vassar College, and Stevens Institute of Technology.

The poor start would not last forever though; two straight three to zero wins of Hunter’s over Ramapo College and Drew University were key as conference play quickly approached.

Junior outside hitter Ahmed Mohamed was pivotal for the Hawks. His 29 kills with an average of .333 was instrumental in this turn of momentum.

Hunter then traveled to Widener University and Saint Elizabeth University for their last games before conference play. They split the games with a one-three loss to Widener and a three-one win over Saint Elizabeth, giving them a decent platform to build off going into their anticipated conference start against CCNY. 

The Hawks finished second to Baruch the last two years in a row, so Hunter would be looking to topple their dominance this season and needed a big victory to set the tone. 

They did just that, beating the Beavers three sets to zero, scoring 75 points to the Beavers’ 54. Freshman setter Wesley Stubbs led the way for the Hawks, producing 14 assists as the Hawks breezed to a one and zero CUNYAC record. 

Looking Ahead

Next month will start fast, with the indoor track and field championships and the wrestling NCAA regionals taking place on the first of March. The women’s fencing NCAA regionals on Mar. 9th will come quickly afterward, and men’s Volleyball will continue their CUNYAC regular season before their championship in April. The softball season also begins in March. The Hawks’ season opener is a double header against Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.