Three CUNYAC Teams Headed to NCAA Championships: John Jay Men's & Women's Soccer and Hun

NDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Nov. 11, 2019) - On Monday, the National Collegiate Athletic Association released the field for the three most recent CUNY Athletic Conference Championship teams. Both John Jay College soccer programs won each team’s first-ever title and berth to the 2019 NCAA Division III Men's & Women's Soccer Championships, while Hunter College served up the competition en route to its sixth consecutive women’s volleyball title and to earn CUNYAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championships. Both tournaments begin play later this week. The John Jay Women's Soccer team will travel to Ewing, NJ to take on The College of New Jersey from the New Jersey Athletic Conference on Saturday, November 16, at 1:00 pm at Lions Stadium. TCNJ and John Jay will meet for the first-time ever. After finishing the regular season with a perfect 5-0 conference record, the Bloodhounds cruised to the championship match. Trailing by one with less than 20 minutes remaining in regulation, John Jay scored two goals including the game-winner in the final 90 seconds for the program's first CUNYAC Title. The Lions clinched its 29th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament with an automatic bid after winning the NJAC Championship. TCNJ enters the big dance with a record of 16-1-1, with the only defeat coming against No. 8 Johns Hopkins. "The team is so proud to represent John Jay on this national scale," head coach John Jay Casey Sommers said. "There is a buzz around campus which is so wonderful for us and the men's program. We are familiar with the NJAC and the location is great for our fans so we are excited and confident in preparing for round 1." The John Jay Men's Soccer team will face Johns Hopkins University on Saturday, November 16, at 1:00 pm in the nation's capital on the campus of Catholic University. After winning the CUNYAC Championship for the first time in program history in penalty kicks in dramatic fashion, the Bloodhounds will match up against the Blue Jays for their first all-time meeting. Johns Hopkins earned the Centennial Conference's automatic qualifier after defeating Franklin & Marshall, 3-2, to earn the program's first conference title since 2009. "We knew going into the draw that no matter what, we were going to get a very tough opponent," stated John Jay head coach Ridi Dauti. "John Hopkins is one of the top DIII programs with a long tradition in the NCAA's. However, we have confidence in our ability and will prepare well in order to be as competitive in this first NCAA appearance program history. The Hunter College women's volleyball team will travel to Christopher Newport for the NCAA Regional (November 15th-17th) on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Purple and Gold will attempt to advance past the first round of the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history after earning a bid to the championships for the past five seasons. Friday's matchup will be against the top seeded team in the region Trinity (TX) (33-4). Trinity defeated Colorado College in four sets to win the SCAC tournament for the first time since 2016. Trinity has been led this season by coach Julie Jenkins and Outside Hitter Avery Tuggle who won coach and player of the year for the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. Hunter comes off a dominating win over Brooklyn College this past Friday, defeating the Bulldogs to capture their sixth straight CUNYAC championship. Hunter has prepared for the post-season all year as they've faced nine regionally ranked teams and four nationally ranked teams over the past two months. The winners of Friday's volleyball game will advance to the second round on Saturday evening at Christopher Newport. Game times and ticket information will be announced on Tuesday. Stay tuned for more NCAA information in the coming days.