ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The Bard College men's volleyball team earned a tough win Friday night, as the Raptors topped Sarah Lawrence College in five sets. 

Set scores for the contest were 24-26, 28-26, 24-26, 26-24 and 15-13. With the win, Bard is now 2-11 on the season. Meanwhile, the Gryphons of Sarah Lawrence dropped to 1-8 overall. 

From the very beginning to the end of the contest, both teams were evenly matched. In the opening frame, the biggest lead for either side was just three points, as the two squads traded blows throughout.

Bard nearly took the opening set after grabbing a commanding, 23-20 lead, before Sarah Lawrence raced back with four-straight points. After the Raptors tied the contest at 24-24, they committed two errors to drop the set.

The hosts weren't discouraged however, as they responded with their best set of the match, hitting .333 with 15 kills. Even with the great hitting in the frame, the Raptors trailed by as many as five points, before mounting a comeback late. 

Down 16-14, Bard rallied off six of the next seven points to grab the lead, 20-17. From there, the two sides traded points to a 23-20 score, before the guests scored three straight to tie the contest. After trading points twice more, Sarah Lawrence put Bard on the brink at 26-25, only to see the Raptors respond with three-straight points to win the set and tie the match. 

In the third set, the Raptors jumped out to early leads of 10-5 and 15-10, only to see the Gryphons slowly cut into them. Eventually, Sarah Lawrence tied the game at 16-16, as the teams continued to battle the entire set. Unfortunately for Bard, the result of the third set was nearly identical to set one. 

The Raptors entered the final stretch up, 23-20, only to see the guests score three straight once more. After the squads traded points to make it 24-24, back-to-back kills from the Gryphons put Bard on the edge going into set four.

Early in the fourth frame, it looked as if Sarah Lawrence would collect the win, as the guests jumped out to a 10-3 lead. Bard didn't fold though. They battled throughout the set, finally reclaiming the lead late, 20-19, on a kill from Price Ohmer.

From that point on, the Raptors either led or were tied the rest of the way, before they were able to edge out the win, 26-24. In the process, it marked the fourth-straight frame in which the two squads needed extra points to decide the winner. 

In the fifth and final set, the Raptors once again emerged victorious to take the match in comeback fashion, 15-13. But just like it had been all game long, it wasn't easy. 

While Bard grabbed the lead to start the set, Sarah Lawrence was right behind the hosts the entire way. Following a ball handling error on the guests, Bard led 14-11, before two-straight points helped Sarah Lawrence close the gap. The Gryphons nearly pushed the final set to extra points once again, but an attack error thwarted their chance to do so, as Bard prevailed. 

For the match, Bard hit .208 and finished with 55 kills, 13 aces and seven blocks. Sarah Lawrence meanwhile, hit just .112 with 42 kills, 15 aces and eight blocks.

Jelani Bell-Isaac was a force for the Raptors in the win, as his 16 kills led all players. He also added four blocks and two digs. Joshua Han collected nine kills and five aces, while Tristan Kozul tallied 43 assists in the effort. 

Sarah Lawrence had three players finish with double figures in kills, as Divij Kapoor (Ludhiana, India) led the team with 13. 

Up next for the Raptors is a tri-match at Rutgers-Newark tomorrow (March 9th). They will face the hosts at 11 a.m. and Messiah College at 1 p.m. You can follow those games right here.