ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. – The Bard men's volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 win (25-20, 25-17, 25-13) against Russell Sage College in an important NECC match on Tuesday night at the Stevenson Athletic Center.
 
The match showed the improvement the Raptors have made over the course of the season, having previously battled to a five-set victory over Sage in early February.
 
First-years Quinn Lewis and Georgi Chikolov were key in the victory, each doing their part to allow Bard to take control of the match. Lewis was effective and consistent on the serve receive, setting up the Raptors offense. Chikolov's decision-making and poise gave Bard's hitters good sets and Bard took advantage.
 
The first set started close, with Bard and Sage trading leads early before the Raptors went on a run to take a 17-10 advantage and eventually close the set out 25-20. Bard only got stronger in the next two sets, winning 25-17 and 25-13.
 
With Lewis and Chikolov helping set up the offense, Ty McGlynn (15 kills) and Angel Obergh (12 kills) led on the stat sheets. Many of Bard's hitters, including Azriel Almodovar, Isaiah Ortiz, and Calvin Mader-Clark all hit for high percentages. McGlynn (four aces) and Almodover (three aces) also gave the Raptors important points on the serve.
 
With the win, Bard sits in sixth place in the NECC standings with three conference matches left to play in the next two weeks. The Raptors visit Pratt on Saturday in non-league action, then host conference matchups against Endicott and SUNY Poly before visiting Eastern Nazarene to close the regular season.