The Bard College women's volleyball team showcased its resilience against the SUNY Delhi Broncos on Wednesday evening, winning 22-25, 25-12, 25-12, 25-17.
Fernanda Julian picked up her fifth career double-double and second of the season with a season-high 21 assists and 13 digs. She also hit a season-high five aces.
Nala Roman led Bard in kills, with 11.
Alex Beer tallied a season-high nine kills and a dig.
Xenia Vassou backed up her strong performance on Saturday with an eight-kill performance on .412 hitting.
Isis Pribble totalled 11 digs and five kills, plus a block and an assist.
Ava Rhinehart had a career performance defensively, with 17 digs, adding three aces and two kills.
Penelope Joosten Lingo made it back-to-back matches with double-digit digs, with a career high 16. She also had five aces and three assists.
Paola De La Cruz chipped in eight assists and
Ninni Ylenius contributed six digs and three aces.
Bard went from down 2-1 to up 5-2 in the first set with a 4-0 run. The Broncos tied it up at 7-7 with four straight of their own. It stayed even until 12-11, when SUNY Delhi went on an 11-5 surge, forcing a Bard timeout. The Raptors won five of the next six points, but the Broncos won the final two to seal it.
The Raptors came out strong in the second set, leading 7-2 after six straight points, punctuated by kills from Roman and
Gia Gomez. The Raptors continued to hold the edge, and at 9-5, they extended the lead to eight after a 7-2 run. SUNY Delhi got as close as six at 16-10, but Bard finalized the frame with a 9-2 run. Bard hit 13 kills to just two errors for a .344 hitting percentage.
The third set started with two SUNY Delhi aces, but Bard responded with a 7-1 run to lead 7-3. SUNY Delhi stayed in touch, getting to within two at 10-8, but that was as close as it got the remainder of the set. The Raptors won eight of the next ten points to lead 19-10. At 19-12, the Raptors rattled off six straight points to continue its comeback.
The comeback was finished in the fourth set, as Bard rode the momentum to a 9-2 start. The teams alternated points for the next ten exchanges, and the Broncos found their footing at 14-7, going on a 7-2 run to make it 16-14. The Raptors took control after a Broncos service error halted SUNY Delhi, and a 9-3 Bard run to close the match gave the Raptors their second straight victory.
Bard will look to continue its win streak against Utica (at Oswego) on Friday at 5 p.m.
