ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - If ever there could be a silver lining in a pair of three-game sweeps, the Bard College women's volleyball team found it on Friday night.

After losing in three straight to Vassar (25-10, 25-16 and 25-13), and the first set to 16th-ranked Clarkson, 25-9, the Raptors trailed 18-9 in the second set against the reigning Liberty League champions.

Bard responded with perhaps the best 10 minutes of its season so far. A kill by Philippine Alba, and ace from Lexi Cooper, a kill from Tytravia Riley, a couple of service errors from Clarkson ... it was 19-14. Later, an attack error cut Clarkson's lead to 21-17, and then back-to-back aces from Riley made it 21-19 and prompted something nobody had seen all night: a Clarkson time out.

The Bard fans in attendance went nuts. Riley produced a kill right out of the time out, and Lexi Akingbade and Kaylynn Tran shared a block, and it was 21-21. It was bedlam in Stevenson Athletic Center.

Three consecutive kills from Sierra Rhodes (Poway, CA) silenced the crowd, and Evanne Jiminez (Ventura, CA) put the set away with an ace, 25-21. Clarkson, which hasn't lost a Liberty League contest since the 2012 playoffs, took the third set, 25-9, and swept the match.

Bard hasn't won a set in Liberty League play since joining the conference in 2011, but the team seemed inspired by its performance against one of the best teams in the country.

Against Vassar, Alba had four kills and four digs, Cooper had eight assists and Daniella Azulai had six digs. Against Clarkson, Riley had four kills, three aces and four digs, Cooper had nine assists, while Alba, Peskin and Azulai had four digs apiece.

The Raptors are 2-12, 0-2 in the Liberty League. They'll play Rochester Institute of Technology and St. Lawrence on Saturday at Vassar. You can follow both matches via Live Stats if you can't make it.