ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The way the roster is constructed this year, the Bard College men's volleyball team is going to need contributions from everyone to make it work.

On Thursday night, that's exactly what they got.

Bard swept former Skyline Conference foe Sage, 3-0, by scores of 25-23, 25-23 and 25-19.

Box score

The roster has nine names on it, but only seven of them were available on Thursday night for various reasons. So Coach Mike Abalos' new emphasis on offensive and defensive versatility was put to the test right away.

The first set was close throughout, and Abalos called a time out with the Raptors down, 18-15. Bard scored the next four points, took the lead, and finished a 25-23 win on a kill by senior middle blocker Ryan Fallon.

Bard hit .440 in the second set and never trailed, but they also blew a 21-12 lead and held off a late Sage charge with another 25-23 win.

The Raptors jumped out to an early lead in the third set - then it was briefly tied at 7-7 - and Bard ran away with it after that, winning 25-19.

Offensively, Nick Chan led Bard with 11 kills, and Andrew Cortrite added nine. But Bard also got five kills each from Fallon, Eliah Gardner and Billy Williams. Even setter Henry Kasiske, who had 29 assists, also had three kills.

Defensively, like on offense, everybody chipped in. Chan had eight digs, Williams had seven, Cortrite had six and Gardner had five.

Fallon had two solo blocks, and the Raptors got aces from four different players to begin the season 1-0. The Raptors will go to Utica this weekend to play in the SUNY Institute of Technology tournament; they'll play Elms and Gallaudet on Saturday, and Lancaster Bible and SUNYIT on Sunday.

Sage, 0-1, got eight kills and nine digs from sophomore Dylan Krowicki (Little Falls, NY). The Gators host Mount St. Vincent and Yeshiva on Saturday in conference matches, and they'll be back at Bard next month to participate in the Bard Raptors Tournament, Feb. 24-25.