Bard (1-5) suffered defeats to Montclair State (4-1) and Cedar Crest (3-1) on Saturday.

Bard took the first point of the match against Montclair State as both teams settled in, feeling each other out. At 2-2, a couple of errors seemed to rattle the Raptors. The Red Hawks scored eight straight points before the Raptors could find their footing. At 2-10, Ani Flittie scored a kill, and fellow Raptors LaeAnna Riley, Becca Wintjen, and Coral Cook each took their turn keeping the Red Hawks off balance, sending shots towards all areas of the court. The Red Hawks had their run of points, stretching their lead to twelve. At 6-18, the Raptors won a long point featuring the highlight of the first set – Xenia Vassou's dump kill that opposing libero Katie Rodman dove to save. Bard fought back to 10-18 but could not complete the double-digit comeback, losing the set 14-25.

The Raptors competed in the kills department in the first set, losing that statistical battle 11-14. The Red Hawks made few errors, allowing the Raptors little opportunity to capitalize.

An opportunity to take a set arose when the Red Hawks started the second set slowly. The Raptors gained an early 5-4 lead off the kills of Vassou and Flittie. However, Montclair State senior Rachel Curran led her team to a 9-5 lead, with two of the four kills in the run. With the Red Hawks leading 15-6, Becca Wintjen scored a kill on a heads up play, adjusting her form to tap the ball off of Curran. Bard was able to bring the game to 12-18 on the ensuing 6-3 scoring run. The two teams jockeyed back and forth, with the Raptors clawing back to 15-21 after a tricky return by Flittie caught the Red Hawks off guard. That was as close as the second set got – the Red Hawks scored four out of the next five points to clinch the set and a two to zero lead in the match.

The Raptors' errors equaled the Red Hawks' total in set number two, but Montclair State gathered thirteen kills to Bard's eight.

Bard went on to the third set in a familiar position – they were down two sets to Saint Elizabeth just four days prior. At 0-3, a key dig by Wintjen kept the Raptors in the point, allowing them to score their first point of the set. Six points later, Carmen Merrick followed it up with a cross-court kill from the left side of the net. Unfortunately, the Raptors would need more plays like that to overcome a team like Montclair State, which has enjoyed six consecutive winning seasons. 

Bard looked disorganized at times in the third set, leading to nine errors versus the Red Hawks' six.

Cook, Flittie, and Riley led the team in kills. Cook added seven digs to her tally, while Ella Small led the team in digs with nine.

After a brief break, the Raptors regrouped to face the Cedar Crest Silver Wolves. 

Bard ended up losing the match, but their lone win came in the third set, 25-23. The Raptors went on streaks of three points in a row six separate times in the set. They jumped out to an 8-3 start off the strong serving of Wintjen and Small. After that quick start, the Raptors had moments where they were in trouble, such as when Merrick followed a service ace up with a service error. A couple of kills allowed the Silver Wolves to bring it to 13-12. A three point surge by the Raptors shut off the Silver Wolves' momentum, extending the lead to 16-12. The same series of events unfolded at 17-17 and at 21-21. At set point down, Cedar Crest won a few rallies, inching back like they had been the whole set. Next, Merrick took aim and fired, giving the Raptors the third set, 25-23.

Bard was able to play a cleaner brand of volleyball than Cedar Crest in the third set, with only five errors to their opponent's ten.

Key moments in the first set included a run of five out of six points for the Raptors starting at 2-4 with a kill by Vassou and punctuated with an ace by Riley. Coral Cook dominated during this stretch, recording three kills in six points, giving the Raptors a four point lead. The largest Raptors lead in the first set was five, with the score at 16-11. The Silver Wolves locked in, winning the next seven points. This momentum carried them to the end of the set, when Ellise Everett notched the last two points for Cedar Crest.

The Silver Wolves were able to play with a near-perfect level of aggression, hitting fifteen kills to just one error in the set.  

In the second set, the Silver Wolves continued to ride high on their emotions, taking an early 11-4 lead. The Raptors rallied all the way back to 15-15, with a slew of Raptors making key plays, from Small's digs to Wintjen's sets and the outside hitters' attacks. The Silver Wolves responded, winning the next five points with Everett hitting her seventh kill of the day to take the set 25-20.

The final set was a tough loss for the Raptors, where they recorded a hitting percentage of just 0.063 on their way to a 20-25 loss. They briefly took the lead at 13-12, and brought the score to within one at 20-21, but it wasn't enough in the end.

Coral Cook led the way for the Raptors in kills (11) and blocks (3). Small and Wintjen were the two Raptors in double figures for digs. Three Silver Wolves had double digit kills, and they limited their errors, hitting an average 4.3 errors between the group.

Bard will take on the Farmingdale State College Rams Tuesday at 7 p.m., which is likely circled on the Rams' calendar. The Raptors took last year's match in five sets, winning the points that mattered most.