The school year may have just started, but the Baruch College Bearcats are back in action!

Men’s soccer, women’s volleyball, women’s tennis and both women’s and men’s cross-country all saw action this week.

Additionally, CUNY also released its coaches’ predictions for the upcoming fall sports campaigns.

Notable predictions

The Baruch women’s tennis team is the favorite to win the CUNY Athletic Conference title according to coaches from the conference.

The Bearcats won the CUNYAC women’s tennis title in 2021, so it makes perfect sense that they are favorites to win again. With reigning CUNYAC Player of the Year Ava Deguzman leading the team to an undefeated record last season, the Bearcats should be in for another winning season.

Reigning men’s and women’s cross-country CUNYAC champs the Hunter College Hawks were picked to repeat. The Bearcats, however, tallied a close second in polls, so it’s worth keeping an eye out for an upset.

The Brooklyn College Bulldogs were selected to repeat as CUNYAC champions in women’s volleyball. But the Bearcats finished in a very close second in polling.

Men’s soccer

The Bearcats men’s soccer team crushed the Pratt Institute Cannoneers in a 4-0 win in its season opener on Sept. 10.

Jemali Zarnadze, Daniel Fomenko, Wessam Farag and Arman Celebi each netted a goal in the shutout. Celebi’s goal came from a Luis Madriz assist.

Kellen Sela, who tallied four saves, and Jon Legasa manned the goal en route to the blowout.

The men will play their next game at the SUNY Farmingdale State College Rams on Sept. 14.

Women’s tennis

The Baruch women’s tennis team continued its dominance from last season, beating the St. Joseph’s College of Long Island Golden Eagles 6-3 in its season opener on Sept. 8.

Deguzman picked up right where she left off following her stellar CUNYAC Player of the Year campaign, sweeping both sets of her singles matches, 6-0, and winning her doubles game with Esther Benjamin, 8-0.

Overall, the team went 2-1 in its doubles matches and 4-2 in its singles matches.

The team’s next matchup comes on Sept. 15, when it will play the Farmingdale State College Rams.

Women’s volleyball

The Baruch women’s volleyball team kicked off its season on Sept. 6 with a 3-1 victory versus the SUNY Old Westbury Panthers.

Julia Perkowski led the offense with 18 kills, while Sarah Chung posted 17 kills. Anesa Feratovic finished with 39 assists,barely missing her career high.

Minami Ebihara led the way on defense with 11 digs.

On Sept. 10, the Bearcats participated in the Montclair State University Tri-Match in New Jersey, where the team swept the Wilkes University Colonels 3-0 but was defeated by the Montclair State University Red Hawks.

Perkowski led the way in kills in both matches, tallying eight and 10 against the Colonels and Red Hawks, respectively. Amina Muminovic led the way in assists, with 23 and 19, respectively.

The team will play its next match versus the St. Joseph’s College of Long Island Golden Eagles on Sept. 13.

Cross-country

Both the men’s and women’s cross-country teams kicked off their seasons at the SUNY Purchase College invitational on Sept. 10.

While neither team took the crown, the men’s team finished in second place in the 8K race while the women’s team finished in eighth place in the 5K race.

Jose Perez and Daniel Sedgh placed in fourth and seventh, respectively, in their races.

Both teams will play again at the New Paltz Invitational on Sep. 16.