ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. – The Bard College men's volleyball team began its home slate on Saturday against the Purchase Panthers and the Hartwick Hawks. The Raptors defeated the Panthers in four sets, while the match against Hartwick was a straight-sets win. It was Bard's Morgan's Message theme day. 

Ansel Waisler led the team with 23 kills, hitting .392 on the day. Sidney Stein collected 16 kills, five aces, and 18 digs across the two matches. Amadeo Pinto recorded 17 digs. Gideon Jacob totalled 28 assists including a season-high 20 against Purchase. Lincoln Grisso hammered home 12 kills and had nine blocks. 

Pearse Esposito ended with 11 kills, 30 assists, 16 digs, six blocks, and  four aces. Zach Butler notched five kills, six aces, four blocks and four digs. Damiel Batista contributed seven kills, two digs, and a block. 

The Raptors will play against Sage on the road on Wednesday at 7 p.m. 

Bard 3, Purchase 1

Bard's early 5-3 lead went away after Purchase went on an 11-4 run to make it 14-9. The Raptors got to within two at 14-12 after back-to-back kills from Stein and Grisso, but the rest of the set favored the Panthers 11-3. Purchase hit 12 kills to just two errors, hitting .417. 

The second set was won by Bard in part due to eight Purchase service errors. The Raptors had their most efficient set on attack, hitting .320. At 7-7, Bard won four straight points to gain the advantage. After the teams exchanged blows, the score sat at 15-13 Bard. At that point, the Raptors took control due to a 5-1 run to make it 20-14. Purchase got within three, but Bard closed it out with back-to-back blocks.

Bard continued its strong play in the fourth, although it took a six-point comeback after being down 11-5. At that point, Bard won five straight points to get within one at 11-10. The Raptors then took the lead at 14-13 after a Waisler kill. The lead was just one at 16-15 when a 5-0 run provided Bard some separation. Back-to-back kills from Grisso and Batista finished the job for Bard's home opener victory.

Waisler led the team with 13 kills, all in the final three sets. He added seven digs, two assists, and two blocks. Esposito had a double-double with 13 assists and 10 digs while hitting six kills and  five blocks. Stein contributed 11 digs and eight kills, and Grisso added nine kills and six blocks. Butler tallied a team-high three aces and Jacob led the team in assists, with 20.

Bard 3, Hartwick 0

In set one, Waisler was unstoppable, racking up five kills before his first error. He ended the set with six kills and one error, hitting .500. Stein also played well, hitting four kills. It started with a 7-2 run that forced a timeout, then Bard pulled away further to 17-10. Hartwick got as close as six, but a 7-1 run sealed the set for the Raptors.

The second set was one-way traffic for Bard, going up 9-2. Later in the set, back-to-back aces from Butler made it a 12-point lead at 18-6. Grisso ended the set with back-to-back aces to seal it by a 14-point margin. 

Another quick start by the Raptors allowed them to take a 5-1 lead, but this time Hartwick battled back and took its first lead of the match in any set at 6-5. Bard was down 7-8 when it won five of the next six points to take a 12-9 lead. The third set continued to be competitive, with seven ties and four lead changes. At 15-15, the Raptors made their final push, going on a 10-3 run to complete the sweep. 

Bard hit 16 kills in the final set to just two errors, and it hit .375 for the match. The Raptors had a 14-3 aces advantage, as Stein, Esposito, and Butler each had three aces. Stein added eight kills, three assists, and seven digs. Waisler was efficient, hitting ten kills to just one error for a .692 percentage in two sets. 

Esposito led the team in assists, with 17. Batista racked up a career-high five kills, and he added a block and a dig. Reza Afzali contributed three kills, an assist, an ace, and three digs in the third set. Will Beane-Rosenberg also played the third set and got three kills on three attacks.