ALBANY, N.Y. - After the excitement of drama of the last couple of weeks, it's time for the Bard College men's volleyball team to start thinking about the Skyline Conference playoffs.

With that in mind, many of Bard's starters got a little bit of rest as the Raptors swept SUNY Purchase, 3-0, at Sage on Friday night. The scores were 25-16, 25-16 and 25-10.

With freshman setter Henry Kasiske (Los Angeles, Calif.) sitting this one out while he nurses a knee injury, libero Andrew Cortrite (Los Angeles, Calif.) filled in admirably, producing 27 assists, two aces, two digs and a solo block.

With junior outside hitter Nick Chan giving his shoulder a rest, seniors Max Howard (Lafayette, Calif.) and Eli Strauss (Queens, N.Y.) took the lead. Howard had nine kills (.316), five aces and two digs. Strauss contributed nine kills (.636) and three solo blocks. Fellow senior Erik Shagdar (New York, N.Y.) had seven kills and hit .778.

Bard (17-10 overall, 8-1 Skyline) will host NYU-Poly on Sunday at 2. A victory there will lock up the top seed for the Skyline playoffs, to be hosted by Bard on Mar. 27.