ONEONTA, N.Y. - The Bard College women's volleyball team opened play at the Dig Pink Invitational with a pair of losses to Hartwick College and SUNY Oneonta Friday night.
The Raptors were defeated 3-1 by the Hawks of Hartwick. Set scores for the contest were 25-11, 25-19, 21-25 and 25-21.
Against the Red Dragons of Oneonta, Bard was swept, 25-22, 25-22 and 25-18.
After dropping the first two sets of match one, the Raptors come out swinging in the third set. The team hit a team-high .240 percentage in the frame en route to the win.
In the fourth and final set, Bard again found a nice hitting groove. However, a late 6-0 scoring run from Hartwick managed to put the Hawks in the driver's seat as the team rallied to snatch the win.
Philippine Alba was undoubtedly the MVP of the opening game for the Raptors, as she did a little bit of everything for the team. The senior recorded game-highs with 13 kills and four aces. She also finished with a team-high 22 digs in the effort.
Victoria Chou also produced a masterfully well-rounded game for the Raptors, as she chipped in five kills, three blocks, 10 digs and led the team with 30 assists.
Erin Russell (Wantagh, NY) led the Hawks with 23 digs and 17 assists, while Rosa Maun (Redstone, CO) tallied a team-high nine kills.
While the Raptors weren't able to secure a set win in their second match of the night, they did continue to improve their play and played a neck-and-neck contest with the hosts in all three sets.
Bard played a clean, efficient game throughout the match, but it just couldn't match the Red Dragons' hitting over the contest.
Alexis Akingbade,
Maracela Talamantes and Alba all tied with six kills each to pace the Raptors. Chou once more led the team in assists with 21, while
Lia Taus finished with 12 digs in the defeat.
Meghan Keyes (Burnt Hills, NY) recorded a game-high 10 kills for Oneonta.
The Raptors play their final two matches of the 2017 season tomorrow afternoon (10/28), as the Dig Pink Invitational continues at Oneonta. Bard will take on Elmira College in the early contest before wrapping up the season with Baruch College at noon. You can follow those contests right here via Live Video.
