Head Coach of Woman’s Volleyball Makes Queensborough History with 200th Win

Published: October 09, 2019

With a 3-0 victory over Kingsborough Community College, Queensborough Lady Tigers Head Coach Jason Demas won his 200th volleyball victory surpassing Queensborough's retired baseball coach Lou Santos (199) as the all-time winningest head coach in the school's history. The Lady Tigers, winners of 9 straight matches, currently sit in first place in CUNYAC and Region XV.

“We started this season with a total of 188 wins achieved and I realized that we needed only 12 more to hit the record,” said Demas, who has been coach of the Women's Volleyball team at Queensborough since the athletic program started in 2010.

Since then the team has won many CUNYAC titles, including five ‘Player of the Week' awards in five weeks. This year, the team will compete for their eighth championship in ten seasons. The team will also attempt this season to go for their fourth Region XV and District Championships in a row this season.

After making its third-straight appearance at the NJCAA Division III National Championship last season, Queensborough has been listed at No. 9 in the 2019 NJCAA Division III Preseason Women's Volleyball National Poll, announced August 19.

Last year, two of the Lady Tigers were named the 2018 NJCAA Division III Volleyball All-America Teams and entered the National Tournament ranked 8th in the country and finished the tournament ranked 8th in the country for the second year in a row.

The Lady Tigers swept the District G Champions defeating Nassau Community College, 3-1, and Northern Essex CC, 3-0, on October 28, to earn a trip to the National Championship in Rochester, Minnesota. The team is currently 28-1 on the season. On to the Nationals, for the third year in a row!

“This year we have a very strong roster. We've never had a team where every single player has been called upon in important matches to contribute, and have risen to the challenge. It's great, but it also makes my job difficult because everyone deserves to play so you have to careful to balance time on the court.”

While the defending champion Tigers have won eight straight matches, all in Region XV, Paige Hughes, Queensborough's captain, has led the way with four double-doubles in last week's match. Her best match of the week was against Rockland with 12 kills, 25 digs and three service aces. The native of New Hyde Park leads Queensborough in kills (2.85) and hitting percentage. (.282).

CUNYAC Women's Volleyball Athlete of the Week was awarded to Freshman Bianca Brierre, who earned back-to-back rookie honors following another undefeated week for Queensborough. The Elmont resident collected 29 kills, 13 digs, 12 blocks and six digs in four matches for the Tigers. In the team's final match of the week against Rockland, the middle hitter tallied a career high 14 kills to go with four digs and four solo blocks. On the season, Brierre averages 1.66 kills a match for Queensborough.

Sophomore Tiffany Garcia-Lawson, CUNYAC Women's Volleyball Athlete of the Week, had 25 kills and 10.5 blocks to lead the Tigers to four sweeps for the week, which included wins over Kingsborough Community College and second-place Borough of Manhattan Community College. The middle hitter had a standout performance against SUNY Sullivan with team-high of nine kills, hitting .533, and had four solo blocks for the match. For the season, Lawson ranks first for Queensborough in kills (53) and stands second in hitting percentage at .325.

Queensborough now stands atop the CUNYAC standings with a record of 3-0. Brierre's week included tallying a season-high six service aces in the Tigers' conference matchup against Kingsborough.

Coach Demas emphasizes the demands of being on a college team. Team members put in 25-30 hours a week. Practice is six days a week, games are Tuesday and Thursday, and often there is a double header on Saturdays.

“We pay attention to the fact that many of our athletes juggle family responsibilities and jobs. Sometimes we'll have lighter practices, walk-throughs or video sessions.”

He adds, “None of our success would be possible without Jon Hochberg, Student Athletics Director, Ivan Mak, Athletic Trainer, and our assistant coaches. They inspire and support us to keep moving forward and take us to the next level.”

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