ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - When Bard and Mount Saint Mary split the first two sets of Wednesday night's women's volleyball match, it narrowed the margin for error and put a premium on hitting efficiency.

Mount Saint Mary did not have a hitting error in the pivotal third set - while Bard had 11 - and continued its hot hitting well into the fourth set to pull out a tough 25-16, 19-25, 25-18 and 25-20 victory over the scrappy, scrambling Raptors.

The visitors jumped out to 10-1 lead in the first set and won it handily. Bard took the second set by putting together four straight points after a 14-14 tie, and it was even going to the third set.

The Raptors (10-14) got down early and battled back, rallying from a 16-11 deficit to make it 16-14 on consecutive kills from Tytravia Riley, Kristen Westerduin and Zoe Morgan-Weinman. But Bard had three attack errors over the next five points, and the Knights (8-16) won it, 25-18, without a single hitting error.

The fourth set started similarly. Mount Saint Mary was up 9-3 before its first hitting error - its first since the second set - but Bard was resilient, battling back from an 11-4 deficit to make it a game at 15-10. The Knights responded with four kills over the next five points and won the set, 25-20.

Senior Kayla Kurka (Islip, NY) led the visitors with 16 kills (.406), while Kim Gries (Hicksville, NY) had 24 assists and Jen Gries (Hicksville, NY) had 16 digs.

Bard got a huge match from freshman Sofia Koukia, who finished with 16 kills and 16 digs, and classmate Victoria Chou, who had five kills, 27 assists and 10 digs. Westerduin chipped in with six kills, and Julia Berry contributed 12 digs to the effort.

Up next for Bard are four Liberty League games this weekend. They'll take on RIT and Vassar in Poughkeepsie on Friday, then host Union and Skidmore on Saturday. Live Stats and Live Video is available for all four matches; just check the schedule page.