ROCHESTER, N.Y.- The Bard College women's volleyball team open the Liberty League portion of its schedule with 3-0 losses to Clarkson and Vassar on Friday night at Rochester Institute of Technology.

In the first match, Bard was overpowered by defending league champion Clarkson, 25-14, 25-14 and 25-10. 

Philippine Alba and Sofia Koukia led Bard in kills with four apiece, and Victoria Chou had 12 assists and eight digs.

Clarkson got 11 kills and four blocks from Rachael Aird (East Syracuse, NY), and 23 assists from Jillian Saenz (Norwalk, CA).

In the second match, things got more interesting for the Raptors (2-8), as they nearly grabbed a set from Vassar (6-5). Bard ended up losing three sets to none, by scores of 25-19, 27-25 and 25-18. 

Bard looked poised at the beginning of the first set, jumping out to an 11-9 lead before dropping the next 10 points and ultimately losing the set. 

In the second set, Bard rallied twice late in the match to tie the score up at 24-24. After trading points and tying it back up at 25, a kill and an attack error gave Vassar the set. In the final set, Bard fell behind early and was never able to rally back as the Brewers finished the match off.

Koukia led Bard with nine kills; Chou had 23 assists and Emily Anastasi had 14 digs.

Vassar got 11 kills apiece from Devan Gallagher (San Francisco, CA) and Jane McLeod (New York, NY).

Koukia again lead Bard in kills with nine and hit .222% for the match. Chou contributed 23 assists and Emily Anastasi finished with 14 digs.

This Liberty League Crossover continues on Saturday at RIT, as the Raptors play RIT and St. Lawrence. Follow it via Live Stats right here.