The Bard College women's volleyball team finished up their 2019 season Saturday, picking up a 3-0 win against the University of Saint Joseph, followed by a loss of the same score to the College of Mount Saint Vincent.

Before the first match got underway, the team honored it's five graduating seniors, Emily Anastasi, Victoria Choy, Jewel Smith, Maracela Talamantes, and Lia Taus for their accomplishments and contributions to the program over the past four years.

The Raptors (9-19, 0-7 LL) started off strong against USJ (9-17), as they were able to take an early lead and maintained control throughout the first set, picking up a 25-16 wire-to-wire win.

The Blue Jays picked up their play in the second, taking a lead midway through the set. But Bard responded and was able to rebound, reclaiming the lead and earning a 25-21 win in the second. The visitors got off to a strong start in the third, taking a commanding 7-1 lead. But the Raptors slowly cut away at the deficit, then late in the third went on a dominant stretch to come all the way back to pick up a 25-23 win and take the 3-0 victory.

For the match, Smith led the way with nine kills, four service aces, 10 digs and 25 assists, while Talamantes and junior Stella Gatti each picked up seven kills. Talamantes also finished second on the team with 14 digs, trailing only Anastasi, who had 16. Gatti, Smith and freshman Macey Spearko all had strong games, as each of them had a .500 hitting percentage for the match.

The Raptors then faced off with CMSV, and got off to a rough start as the Dolphins took a 12-4 lead to start the match. Bard was eventually able to pull within five points, but could not make up the lost ground as they dropped a 25-15 decision in the first.

Bard again faced an early deficit in the second, as CMSV took an early lead, then closed out the set by winning 12 of the final 13 points to pick up a 25-7 win in set two. The Raptors fared much better in the third, battling to the very end and late in the set trailed by a 20-18 score. But the visitors then went on a 5-1 run to put the match away and pick up a 3-0 win following a 25-19 victory in the third.

Junior Mikala L'Hote led the Raptors with six kills in the match, while Talamantes added five kills and eight digs. Smith picked up 15 assists and nine digs, and Anastasi again led the team with 16 digs.

The Bard College women's volleyball team will return to the court in the fall of 2020.

The box score for Match 1 will be uploaded when available.