The Bard College men's volleyball team rallied from two sets down to reverse sweep Russell Sage and pick up their first conference win on Wednesday night at Kahl Campus Center.
Outplayed most of the game by the Gators, the Raptors fought hard and found a way to lock in and defeat Sage. Ansel Waisler and Sidney Stein led the Raptors with double-digit kills, Waisler with 15, while Stein had 12. Waisler added five digs, and Stein contributed with seven digs and three blocks. Pearse Esposito and Georgi Chikolov shared the role of setting the game, Esposito had a team-high 16 assists and added three digs and four kills; while Chikolov had 12 assists, three digs and an ace.
Moises Arteaga appeared in his first game of the season and came up big defensively after coming in the third set as the libero, with seven digs. Lincoln Grisso and Quincy Ross each had two block solos, while Gideon Jacob contributed with two block assists.
After meeting for the first time this season at Stevenson Athletic Center back in February, where Bard won, Sage came in hot and wanted revenge. The first set went back and forth, it wasn't until Sage had a one-point lead at 17-16 that they went on an 8-1 run to close out the set. The Gators continued that momentum going into the second set, taking a 12-9 lead. Bard tried to close in on the deficit but was unable to prevent Sage as they hit .542 (14 kills with one error) their best set of the game.
In the third set, Bard and Sage went back and forth and tied the set 15 times. At 20-20, Bard won five straight points, including an ace from Grisso to end the third set. The Raptors had 11 kills and hit .261, their best set, while Sage had nine kills with eight errors. The fourth set saw Bard taking a quick 11-4 lead. Sage was able to tie the game up at 22-22, but the Gators had an attack error, followed by a block solo from Grisso to set the Raptors up with set point. A kill from Waisler secured the fourth set for a decider.
In the fifth set, Bard again jumped to a 7-3 lead. Sage got within three points at 10-7, but Bard finished the set with a 5-2 run, ending with a block from Jacob and Stein.
Bard will host NVU-Johnson and Emmanuel in a tri-match on Saturday. The Raptors face the Badgers at noon and the Saints at 4 p.m.
