ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The playoffs are a couple of weeks away, but the men's volleyball teams from Bard and Mount St. Vincent apparently haven't been notified.

In an epic match reminiscent of last year's Skyline Conference championship, Bard rallied from a two-set deficit to defeat Mount St. Vincent, 3-2, on Tuesday night to take over first place.

Bard prevailed 32-34, 25-27, 25-21, 27-25 and 15-9. It was a match filled with playoff intensity, stellar performances, crushing errors, and it even had a little controversy thrown in at the end.

The real kicker is that they get to do it again on Saturday as part of a quad-match at SUNY Purchase.

Both teams came into the match unbeaten in Skyline play so far this season, and Bard appeared stunned when Mount St. Vincent rallied to take the first set, 34-32. Bard squandered four set points, due in large part to Mount St. Vincent's diminuitive (5-foot-9) but high-flying senior outside hitter David Guerrero (East Meadow, N.Y.), who had three consecutive kills in that stretch to keep the Dolphins alive. Another emphatic kill by Guerrero ended that set, and Mount St. Vincent was up, 1-0.

The second set was tied 11 times, and Bard was ahead 22-19 when the Dolphins rallied again. It was 25-25 when junior Chris Bacchi (Hicksville, N.Y.) and Guerrero went back-to-back with kills, and Mount St. Vincent was up, 2-0, with a 27-25 victory.

The Raptors (12-9 overall, 4-0 Skyline) hit .324 in the third set and never trailed, winning 25-21 to stay alive.

The fourth set went back and forth like the others, but after an ace by senior Mike Quinn (Wantagh, N.Y.), the Dolphins had a 20-16 lead and Bard was on the ropes again. Bard came back, and a kill by junior Ryan Fallon (Ridgewood, N.Y.) cut Bard's deficit to 22-20. Mount St. Vincent had a service error and two hitting errors over the next four points, and it was eventually tied at 25-25. A service error and a hitting error on consecutive points by Mount St. Vincent gave Bard the fourth set, 27-25.

In the final set, neither team hit the ball particularly well, but there were a couple of key points. With Bard up, 7-5, seniors Max Howard (Lafayette, Calif.) and Erik Shagdar (New York, N.Y.) combined on a big block of Guerrero, and the Dolphins never got closer.

With Bard ahead 13-9, a kill attempt by junior Mark Sargente (Hauppauge, N.Y.) was called out to the consternation of the Mount St. Vincent players. The referee consulted briefly with a linesman and then called the ball out. Bard won the match on an ace by Howard, and the celebration began.

For the Dolphins (12-3 overall, 6-1 Skyline) Guerrero finished with a whopping 30 kills and hit .269. Quinn had 56 assists and junior Michael Sin (Hicksville, N.Y.) had 26 digs. Mount St. Vincent came to the match with only six players.

For Bard, junior Nick Chan (Victor, N.Y.) had 24 kills and 11 digs, Howard added 15 kills, and senior Eli Strauss (Queens, N.Y.) had 13 kills and hit .344. Freshman setter Henry Kasiske (Los Angeles, Calif.) had 60 assists, 22 digs and two blocks, and junior libero Andrew Cortrite (Los Angeles, Calif.) had 28 digs.

Bard - which beat Mount St. Vincent, 3-2, in last year's Skyline title game - hosts Yeshiva University on Thursday at 8 in another conference matchup.