ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - Even though the Bard College men's volleyball team was either tied for first place or alone in first place throughout the Skyline Conference regular season, doubts remained.

Almost every match against the other two title contenders - Mount St. Vincent and Sage - was a war. Of the five matches Bard had played against those two schools, four went to five sets. Going into Sunday's Skyline Championships, although Bard was the top seed, the feeling was that anything could happen.

When Bard took the court on Sunday, that all changed.

Bard erased any lingering doubts about who the top team is in the Skyline Conference in 2011 with a 3-0 whitewash of Mount St. Vincent, 25-15, 25-19 and 25-22.

Bard (20-11) had split two matches with the Mount St. Vincent during the regular season, but the Dolphins had to survive Sage, 3-1, in the first semifinal on Sunday. It apparently took a lot out of Mount St. Vincent, because they were not sharp in the championship match.

Bard, however, was. The Raptors broke open the first set with a 9-2 run to take an 18-11 lead, en route to an easy 25-15 win.

Mount St. Vincent (16-6) never led the second set, and Bard won it 25-19.

In the third set, Mount St. Vincent held a couple of narrow leads, the last at 18-17, but Bard pulled even, then pulled away with two kills apiece from junior Nick Chan (Victor, N.Y.) and senior Max Howard (Lafayette, Calif.) to take the title, 25-22.

Chan was named the MVP after the title match. He had 14 kills and 10 digs, freshman setter Henry Kasiske (Los Angeles, Calif.) had 32 assists, and junior libero Andrew Cortrite (Los Angeles, Calif.) contributed 14 digs.

Earlier in the day, Bard swept No. 4 seed NYU-Poly, 3-0 (25-18, 25-11, 25-23). Chan had 15 kills and nine digs, and senior Eli Strauss (Queens, N.Y.) added 13 kills with no hitting errors. Kasiske had 35 assists in that one.

With the victory, Bard earns an automatic berth into the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) Tournament, coming up Apr. 1-3 at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J. A possible bid to the Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament may follow.

This is Bard's last season in the Skyline Conference. In men's volleyball, Bard is to become a full member of the United Volleyball Conference next season. As a school, Bard is joining the Liberty League beginning this fall.