ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The Bard College women's volleyball team was defeated by Union College in straight sets Friday night, as both squads opened Liberty League play. 

Set scores for the contest were 25-11, 25-13 and 25-20.

After dropping the first two sets on the night, the Raptors responded with a tough, gritty effort in set three, as the hosts went down swinging. Bard fell behind 19-9 late in the frame, before rallying off eight of the next nine points, to cut the deficit to 20-17. 

Ultimately, Union had enough left in the tank to pull out the win, 25-20, though the Raptors finished with a higher hitting percentage (.344) and more kills (14) than Union (.323 / 13) did in the frame.

Co-captain Victoria Chou led Bard in the effort with eight kills, 13 assists, nine digs, two aces and a block. Storm Bookhard recorded nine kills and nine digs, while Emily Anastasi finished with 14 digs for Bard. 

For Union, Gillian Gore (Bronx, NY) collected eight kills and 13 digs in the win, while Sage Shimamoto (Hillsborough, CA) added 21 assists. 

Up next for the Raptors is more Liberty League action, as the team travels north to face Skidmore College tomorrow (9/22). That match is set to begin at 4 p.m. and you can follow it here.