ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. – The Bard College men's volleyball team dropped a mid-week match to Ramapo on Tuesday, 19-25, 21-25, 17-25 at Stevenson Athletic Center.

Pearse Esposito recorded 20 assists, four kills, four digs, and three blocks. Sidney Stein led the Raptors with 11 kills, adding a dig. Ansel Waisler had six kills, seven digs, and a block. Lincoln Grisso had four kills, Georgi Chikolov had two assists, and Moises Arteaga contributed two digs. Evan McMahon provided three kills, an assist, an ace, and four digs. 

Zach Butler tied for the team lead with three blocks, adding a kill. It was his 12th straight match with a block and his sixth straight match with multiple blocks. Gideon Jacob had an ace, Reza Afzali chipped in an assist, and Amadéo Pinto got a dig.

In the first set, there were three lead changes early on, with Ramapo leading 9-8 after some tight action. Then, the Roadrunners won six straight points to take a 15-8 lead. The Raptors would fight back to within three at 13-16 after a 5-1 surge. Ramapo had a 22-16 advantage when Bard made a push with three straight to get within three again at 19-22. However, the Roadrunners finished with three straight of their own.

The beginning of the third set saw both teams trade blows, with Bard eventually taking a 6-5 lead to start strong. Ramapo won five of the next six points to make it 10-7, but the Raptors tied it at 10. Kills from Stein bookended the 3-0 mini-run. The Roadrunners took control from there with a 6-1 run to lead 18-12. Bard did not quit, getting back to within two at 18-20. Soon after, Ramapo brought up set point with a kill, 24-20. McMahon saved one set point with a kill, but the Roadrunners won the second. Both teams hit 14 kills and over .300 hitting in the frame.

Ramapo won the block category in the third set, 5-2, which propelled them over the finish line. Again, Bard had an early 6-5 lead, which was flipped into a 12-6 Ramapo lead shortly after. The Raptors had a late 8-3 run, and an eight-point deficit at 9-17 turned into a three-point margin at 20-17. However, the hot streak ended there, as Ramapo clinched the sweep with five straight points to close it out.

Next up is a road trip to Nichols on Saturday at noon for a tri-match.