BUFFALO, N.Y. - Bard knew when it joined the newly-formed United Volleyball Conference that the level of play was going to beyond anything they'd experienced before.

The UVC initiation continued on Sunday, as the Raptors were swept by Nazareth College, 3-0, as part of a UVC crossover tournament hosted by D'Youville College. Nazareth was ranked fifth in the latest coaches poll conducted by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.

This followed Saturday's tough loss to host D'Youville, 3-2. Bard held one-set leads twice in that match.

On Sunday against Nazareth, it wasn't nearly as close. The Golden Flyers romped, 25-16, 25-20 and 25-11. It was Bard's most resounding defeat on the young season.

Nazareth got nine kills apiece from juniors Billy Gimello (Hauppauge, NY) and Dan Miranda (Amherst, NY) to improve to 7-3 overall, 3-0 in the UVC.

Junior Nick Chan (Victor, NY) had four kills for Bard. The Raptors are 4-6 overall and 1-4 in the UVC. Bard will play its first Skyline Conference match of the season on Wednesday at The Sage Colleges at 7 p.m.

Bard counts in the standings for both the UVC and they Skyline, but will only be eligible for the postseason in the Skyline. Next year, Bard will no longer be a member of the Skyline Conference.