NEW PALTZ, N.Y. - The Bard College men's volleyball team was defeated by SUNY New Paltz, 3-1, on Thursday night.

The Hawks (4-2 overall) are ranked No. 15 in the country in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association Div. III poll. SUNY New Paltz won 25-19, 25-16, 21-25 and 25-21.

SUNY New Paltz didn't trail in either of the first two sets and held a 17-16 edge in the third set when Bard rallied. A pair of service aces from freshman Billy Williams (Livingston, NJ), three points from junior Nick Chan (Victor, NY) and a key solo block from senior Max Howard (Lafayette, CA) allowed Bard to stay alive with a 25-21 win. The Raptors hit a season-high .429 attack percentage in that set (10 kills, 1 error, 21 attempts.)

In the fourth set, the Hawks began to pull away midway through, taking a 14-10 lead, then 20-15, but Bard rallied again. A kill by Howard brought the Raptors to within 23-21, but back-to-back kills for SUNY New Paltz ended the match.

SUNY New Paltz was led by junior Kevin Stross (Port Washington, NY), who had 15 kills, three aces and three blocks. Junior libero Frank Ciccone (Long Beach, NY) collected 11 digs.

Bard got 21 kills (.298) and nine digs from Chan, while freshman Henry Kasiske (Los Angeles, CA) had a double-double with 38 assists and 10 digs. Junior Ryan Fallon (Ridgewood, NY) contributed six total blocks.

Bard's overall record is 4-4; New Paltz is 4-2. Both teams are members of the United Volleyball Conference, although Bard will not be eligible for the UVC postseason this year. Bard is 1-2 in the UVC, New Paltz is 1-0.

Bard travels to a UVC Crossover Tournament this weekend being hosted by D'Youville and Medaille. Bard will play D'Youville on Saturday, then fifth-ranked Nazareth on Sunday.