ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The Bard College women's volleyball team beat SUNY Cobleskill, 3-1 Tuesday night, in the final game before Liberty League contests begin. 

Set scores for the match were 25-12, 25-14, 25-27 and 25-14.

The Raptors (4-7) dominated play all night. In set one, Bard established leads of 6-0, 10-3, 14-6 and 21-8, before easily taking the opening frame. The hosts hit .233 in the set, but were just warming up.

Set two saw the Raptors finish with a .303 hitting percentage, as the Fighting Tigers of SUNY Cobleskill (1-7) had no answers. Once again, Bard enjoyed substantial leads during the frame, as it coasted to the 25-14 victory.

In set three, the Fighting Tigers managed to delay their defeat, outlasting Bard, 27-25. Despite the set loss and falling behind, 17-9 during the frame, the Raptors never gave up. The team rallied to take the lead late, 23-22, before the trading points to a 25-25 tie. Cobleskill responded with two straight points to take the set, but stood no chance in the fourth frame. 

In the final set, the hosts returned to their early-game form. Long scoring streaks led to big advantages throughout, as Bard cruised to the 25-14 set win and a 3-1 match win.

On the night, the Raptors nearly doubled the kills of Cobleskill, 47-25. Aces also played a major part in the victory, as Bard soared over the visitors, 17-4 in the category.

Maracela Talamantes led all players on the night with 12 kills. The Bard captain also added 12 digs, three aces and a block in the effort. Storm Bookhard finished with 10 kills and 14 digs, while Jewel Smith recorded 33 assists and seven aces. 

For the Fighting Tigers, Jillian Nitchman (Ballston Spa, NY) collected eight kills and three blocks and Mikayla Catherman (Marcellus, NY) tallied 16 digs in the loss. 

Up next for Bard is the start of Liberty League play, as the Raptors host Union College on September 21st at 6 p.m. You can follow that game right here.