ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The Bard College women's volleyball team earned a convincing home-opening victory over Sage College Saturday afternoon, sweeping the Gators in straight sets.  

Set scores for the match were 25-17, 25-18 and 25-18.

With the win, the Raptors improved to 3-3 overall, and now sport a two-match winning streak. Sage meanwhile, dropped to 2-4 on the young season.

From the opening whistle to the final point, it felt like Bard was in control. In game one, the Raptors built big advantages of 10-4 and 20-10, as they cruised to a 1-0 lead.

Despite the opening set win, the Raptors' hitting was slow to start the afternoon. The hitting struggles didn't last long though, as Bard tallied a .214 mark in the second set and a .225 percentage in the third. 

As for the Gators of Sage, they too struggled to hit in the opening set, finishing with just a .037 mark. The problem for the visitors however, was that their hitting issues persisted throughout the match. .

In spite of its hitting, Sage actually managed to establish leads in both the second and third sets. In set two, Sage led 11-8, before three straight points by Bard tied the contest. After trading points to a 14-14 score line, the Raptors took over. The hosts scored 11 of the final 15 points, propelling them to a commanding 2-0 set advantage.  

In the final set, things played out similarly to set two. Sage built an early lead, only to have it be chipped away by the Raptors. The turning point in the set and match came with Bard down, 16-13. From there, the Raptors' offense just seemed to click. They scored 10 of the next 11 points and 12 of the final 14, to earn their first victory over Sage College since 2000.

Aces powered Bard on the afternoon, as the hosts collected 13 to Sage's four. The hosts also managed 10 more kills, 34-24.

As for individual performances, the Raptors got a little bit from everyone. Freshman Storm Bookhard finished with a game-high 10 kills, while adding two aces and two blocks. Co-captain Maracela Talamantes added seven kills, six digs and two aces, while Emily Anastasi collected 10 digs and three assists.

Mikala L'Hote led the charge on aces with six. She also added five kills. Co-captain Victoria Chou led all players with 14 assists in the win, while Jewel Smith added nine assists. 

For Sage, Gabby Rowell (Morrisonville, NY) finished with eight kills and Lidia LoPorto (Troy, NY) added 10 digs.

Up next for the Raptors is the Roadrunner Invitational at Ramapo College next weekend. Bard will begin with Ramapo College on September 15th at 4 p.m., but also will play SUNY New Paltz later that afternoon. You can follow all those games right here.