ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The Bard College men's volleyball earned its first win of the season Sunday afternoon, as the Raptors outpaced Northern Vermont University-Johnson in straight sets.

Set scores for the contest were 25-18, 25-23 and 25-20.

Captain Tristan Kozul recorded a career-high 19 kills, including 10 in the final set to lead Bard to the victory. The junior also tied for a game-high 13 digs in the effort.

Meanwhile, Nic Smith tallied 25 assists, Colin Schroeder added 13 digs and Radoslav Skular collected five aces. 

While the stats were impressive in the end, the win certainly didn't come easy. The Badgers of NVU-Johnson entered the game as a first-year varsity program, playing in just their third match ever. After some early jitters, the Badgers' inexperience didn't show the rest of the game. 

As a result, the opening set was close throughout. A late run from the Raptors pushed their lead to 21-15, before NVU-Johnson rallied back with three straight points. However, Bard was able to hold on by scoring the final four points to take the set.

In the second frame, it was all Badgers early on. The guests jumped out to a 5-0 lead and led most of the set.

Every time the Raptors rallied back to tie the score, NVU-Johnson immediately responded by scoring the next point to frustrate Bard. The hosts were able to keep their cool however, and were finally rewarded with their first lead of the set, 22-21, on a Badgers' attack error.

Two straight Badger points quickly flipped the lead back though, forcing Bard to play on its heels once again. Luckily for the Raptors, the team had freshman Galen Willigan, who tied the contest at 23 with a kill and proceeded to score two consecutive aces to hand the Raptors the set. 

The comeback completely flipped the narrative in the match, as NVU-Johnson looked shocked by the loss. The Raptors meanwhile, used the comeback as a blueprint to take control in set three.

In the final set, the Raptors jumped out to an early lead and never trailed the rest of the way. Bard finished with 15 kills on .355 hitting, while committing just four errors in the set win. 

Up next for the Raptors is a home contest with New Jersey City University. That game is set to begin at 7 p.m. on January 30th. You can follow it right here.