Hunter College HS has been steady the last two seasons. The Headhunters always seem to beat the teams lower than them, yet they also have never gotten over the hump into the truly elite.
“We’ve kind of been hitting our head against the glass ceiling,” coach James Kurfess said.
That might have all changed Sunday. Hunter defeated Bronx Science, 25-18, 11-25, 25-18, to win the John F. Kennedy tournament title – its first tourney championship in more than two years – in The Bronx.
The Headhunters beat Midwood in the semifinals, 25-18, 25-17, making it back-to-back victories over teams they lost heartbreakers to earlier in the season. Hunter fell to Midwood in the first Seward Park tournament final and lost to Bronx Science in a non-league.
“So not only does it mean that we can finally not only play well throughout games and finish them, but that we have also gotten better throughout the season,” setter Gaby Frid said. “We knew what it felt like to lose to them, so now we just wanted to know what it felt like to win.”
Frid was named to the all-tournament team and hitters like Tiffany Ramos, Helen Nam, Courtney Ligh and Emma Almon all had good days. Junior libero Belinda Zhou was steady as usual in the back row. Middle hitter Cammy Ford had a breakout performance also, according to Kurfess.
“Gaby was excellent and the passing was superb,” the coach said. “We have a lot of hitters. We don’t have one particularly dominant hitter. [Cammy] really came into her own. That was fun to see.”
The performance could not have come at a better time for Hunter. The Headhunters are jockeying with both Bronx Science and Midwood for playoff positioning and the PSAL seeding meeting is Monday. This was only Hunter’s third tournament, but that’s by design, Kurfess said. He wants to avoid the injury bug and keep players fresh for the postseason, which begins Thursday.
“I don’t know how the seeding is going to play out, but we played great,” Kurfess said. “We’re definitely peaking at the right time.”
Bronx Science beat Tottenville, 25-12, 25-17, in the semifinals and finished above Midwood in pool play. Hunter finished first ahead of Tottenville. Science libero Anna Baron, Midwood setter Elizabet Genis and Tottenville’s Hui Shan Saw were all named to the all-tournament team.
Joining them were Scholars Academy’s Nicole Glaz, Seward Park’s Lisbeth Cruz, Kennedy’s Ashley Herrera, Manhattan Center’s Serena Butler, Marija Jevtic of Environmental Studies and Chelsea Daniels of Columbus.
Hunter will find out its seeding fate Monday. Kurfess is hoping for a No. 4, but thinks his team could be anywhere from four to six. Either way, winning its first tournament in more than two years – and his first as coach – can’t hurt.
“I feel like we’ve got the pieces in place,” he said. “I think we have the confidence now to achieve just about anything.”