ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The members of the team that wins the Skyline Conference men's volleyball championship this season are going to be able to say they earned it, that's for sure.

Bard, the defending Skyline champion, has played fellow Skyline contenders Mount St. Vincent and Sage twice each in conference play. All four matches went five sets.

On Tuesday night,  Bard rallied from a two-sets-to-one deficit to hold off Sage, 3-2, by scores of 23-25, 25-10, 23-25, 25-15 and 15-5. The victory puts a stranglehold on first place in the Skyline Conference for the Raptors, who will likely host the Skyline Championships on Mar. 27.

Bard (16-10 overall, 7-1 Skyline) has a pair of conference games remaining - against SUNY Purchase on Friday and against NYU-Poly on Sunday - and if they win those, which they'll be favored to do, they'll clinch the top seed.

Sage (11-9, 4-2 Skyline) got an emotional lift from taking the first set, which was tied 18 times before the Gators won it, 25-23.

But Bard responded with its best single set of the season. The Raptors hit .895 and swamped the Gators, 25-10. The Raptors did not make a hitting error in the entire set.

The third set looked to be more of the same when Bard got up 9-4, then 14-9, but Sage responded. They rallied to tie the game at 15-15 and eventually took the set, 25-23. Bard was on the brink of a tough conference loss, and the Gators were poised to take over first place themselves.

It wasn't to be, though. The fourth set was tied, 7-7, when kills by junior Nick Chan (Victor, N.Y.) sandwiched a block by senior Erik Shagdar (New York, N.Y.), and the Raptors just kept rolling after that. Chan finished the set with a flourish, scoring the final three points in a 25-15 win, twice with kills, once with a solo block.

And Bard's momentum carried into the fifth and final set. A Chan kill and consecutive aces by Chan gave Bard a 4-1 lead. It was 7-1 when Sage called it's first time out, and 10-2 when Sage called its second time out. Bard rolled 15-5 and has all but locked up the top seed.

Chan had 24 kills and 13 digs, freshman setter Henry Kasiske (Los Angeles, Calif.) produced 45 assists and 10 digs in spite of being hobbled by a knee injury, and junior libero Andrew Cortrite (Los Angeles, Calif.) had 20 digs.

It was Senior Night at Bard, and the three who played had excellent performances. Eli Strauss (Queens, N.Y.) had nine kills and seven solo blocks; Max Howard (Lafayette, Calif.) had six kills, three assists and 12 digs; and Shagdar had seven kills and seven total blocks. Senior Dan Placht (Cairo, Egypt) was forced to sit this one out with an illness.

Bard next plays SUNY Purchase on Friday at Sage at 6 p.m. Sunday's match vs. NYU-Poly is at 2 p.m. at home.