ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. – The Union College women's volleyball team jumped out to a two-set lead against Bard College on Tuesday night, but the Raptors stormed back to take the final three frames to stun the Dutchwomen in a 3-2 (17-25, 14-25, 25-17, 28-26, 15-9) victory at the Stevenson Athletic Center.
 
The loss is a damaging one for the postseason hopes of Union (10-11, 2-4 Liberty League), as the team falls into a tie for sixth place in the Liberty League standings with two matches to go. Union will need to win at least one of its final two conference matches to have a chance at earning a berth in the upcoming conference tournament.
 
Juniors Keara Page and Mya Delesdernier posted a team-leading 13 kills apiece for the visitors, with Page recording only one error for .364 hitting. Senior Julia Webster hit .500 with nine kills on 16 attempts and junior Nikki Newcomer added nine kills as well. Senior Haley Kresch finished with 30 assists and first-year Georgia Pool led all players with 22 digs.
 
Webster led Union to a win in the opening set, putting down three kills on three attempts and adding a block. Bard (6-14, 2-4 Liberty League) held an early 9-6 lead before Union turned it around, getting back-to-back kills from Delesdernier to start a 9-1 run that put the visitors up 15-10. The Raptors never got closer than four the rest of the frame, and when they did Union closed the set with four straight points to take the early lead.
 
Page put down a team-leading four kills without an error in the middle set, helping Union to take a two-set lead. Union fell behind only briefly at 5-4 before seven straight points helped the team retake control at 11-5 following an ace by first-year Georgia Pool. Union closed the set on a 5-1 run to reach its largest lead of the frame at 11 points.
 
Bard hit extremely well in the third set to stay in the match, putting down 13 kills with only one error for a .500 hitting percentage. Ryan Lum had six of Bard's 13 kills and added an ace for the home team in the set.
 
After four ties early in the fourth set, Union used an 8-2 run to take a 14-8 lead. Bard closed the gap to two at 15-13, but the visitors scored five straight points to run the lead to 20-13 after a kill by senior Denesha Lafontant. The home team was not done, however, using a 10-2 run to knot the score at 23. Page and Webster put down huge kills on set point to tie the score at 24 and 25, respectively, and Page followed up with another kill to set up match point; however, three straight Union errors handed Bard the fourth frame.
 
Kresch started the fifth set with an ace, but Union struggled to get good swings at the net for a majority of the final frame. A Page kill knotted the score at three, but three straight Bard points put the home team back ahead for good. Union scored three in a row to get within a point at 9-8, but Bard closed with five of the last six points. The Raptors put down 10 kills to Union's four in the final frame.
 
Union will begin the final weekend of conference play on Friday with a must-win match at Rochester Institute of Technology beginning at 7 p.m.