ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The Bard College men's volleyball team lost its final two home games Saturday afternoon, during the United Volleyball Conference tri-match hosted by Bard College.

Bard lost to Penn State-Behrend, 3-1 (25-13, 25-15, 20-25 and 25-11) in the early match and 3-0 (25-19, 25-19 and 25-17) to #3-ranked Vassar College in the final contest of the day.

Before the Vassar-Bard match began, the Raptors' three seniors, Alex Adams, Mahir Sheikh and Shane McDonald, were all honored for Senior Day. 

The three have been major contributors to the program's development over the past few years and Bard College wants to take this opportunity to thank them for their commitment and sacrifice. We wish you all nothing but the best in the future.

In the first game of the day, the Raptors fell behind early in the first and second sets, as the Lions of Penn State-Behrend breezed to a 2-0 sets lead.

In the third set though, things changed for Bard.  

The hosts found themselves in charge early this time, jumping out to a 9-4 lead.

From there, things tightened up as the Lions sensed the Raptors meant business in the set. Bard clung to a narrow lead midway through the set, before a mini rally late allowed it to push its lead to seven points, up 22-15.

Behrend battled back, trying to win the frame and end the match in three straight sets, but came up short as the Raptors had enough to hold on to the third set win. 

The win was the first set the Raptors had won in a UVC match since March 2016 against Elmira College. 

In the fourth and final set, Behrend didn't make the same mistake it did in the previous set, as the Lions wrapped up the match with a 25-11 victory.

The Raptors finished with a .093 hitting percentage overall, but hit a dominant, .448 percentage during that third set win. 

Behrend meanwhile, hit .368 on the afternoon, including an incredible .800 percentage in the final set.

Alex Adams led Bard with 12 kills in the game, while Mahir Sheikh collected 30 assists. Tyler Zowaski added eight digs in the effort.

Trenton Munk (Baden, MA) and Dillon Hildebrand (Red Lion, PA) finished with double digit kill totals and Anthony Sprentz (Cranberry Township, NJ) recorded 23 assists for the Lions. 

In the second match of the tri-match series, Vassar College topped Penn State-Behrend (11-13, 2-6 UVC) in straight sets. 

The final contest of the day saw two arch-rivals engage in a battle, as the Raptors (5-20, 0-8 UVC) showed great resilience to stay with one of the best teams in the country.

The first set was close from start to finish, as neither side led by more then four points until the end of the match. The second frame saw the Brewers of Vassar (24-6, 8-0 UVC) jump out to an early lead, before the Raptors rallied to take the lead midway through the set, 14-13.

From there, Vassar buckled down and retook the lead, but just like the first set, it never blew it wide open. The Brewers ended up winning the set, 25-19.

The final set of the day wasn't as close as the first two, but Bard did rally in the middle of the frame to make it a tighter contest, before Vassar finished off the set and match, 25-17. 

Bard didn't hit the ball as well in its second match, as the Raptors finished with a .000 percentage overall. Vassar also struggled hitting, but was able to do better than Bard, as the visitors finished with a .188 total. 

Adams again led the Raptors in kills, finishing with five in the second game. Sheikh collected 17 assists and Tristan Kozul had nine digs in the loss. 

Christian Lizana (Dublin, PA) finished with eight kills to led the Brewers in the win. Daniel Halberg led Vassar in assists with 23 and blocks with three. 

While the Raptors might not have anymore home contests the rest of the season, they do still have three more road games. The next game for Bard will be on April 5th, as the team travels to Troy, NY to take on Sage College at 7:00 p.m.