The Misericordia men's volleyball team went 1-1, Saturday afternoon, defeating Bard, 25-23,  30-28, 25-13, before falling to Wilson College later in the afternoon at the Anderson Center.

The Cougars are now 3-3 in their inaugural season. Wilson improved to 2-0 while Bard fell to 0-5.

Against Bard, the Cougars were led by Ryan Miller and Caleb Bauder who had 13 and 10 kills, respectively. Bailey Brugler accumulated 31 assists and a block. Bauder and Matt Lavin also chipped in with a block each.

Bauder started the match with an ace, but two straight points by Bard gave them an early lead. The Cougars then went on a 5-1 run to take a 7-3 lead and the lead stayed around three until the Raptors scored four straight points to tie the set at 12. Trailing 22-20, MU went on a 4-0 run to get to match point where Miller got the kill to win the set.

In the second set, the Cougars jumped out to a 12-3, but Bard started to climb back. Misericordia built their lead back up to 22-13, but six straight points by the Raptor pulled them back within three. The Cougars had match point at 24-20 but were unable to put the set away, allowing Bard to tie it at 24. Bard had their own match point at 28-27, but the Cougars were able to save it and a kill by Bauder gave them the lead. An error by Bard gave MU the set, 30-28.

The third set was all Misericordia as they jumped out to a 12-4 lead and never looked back. Two kills by Bauder and two by Michael Trygar on a 4-0 run gave the Cougars a 16-8 lead. At 23-13, kills by Kaden Abreu and Miller gave the match to the Cougars.

Later in the afternoon, the Cougars fell to Wilson 25-18, 26-24, 25-20 to finish the day with a split. Miller led the team with seven kills and Trygar had five blocks. Brugler finished the match with 21 assists.

The Phoenix took control early in the first set, racing out to a 12-5 lead. The Cougars started to make a comeback when Brugler started looking for kills, racking up three kills in six plays to bring the Cougars within four at 21-17. However, Wilson responded by taking four of the next five to claim the set.

The second set was tightly contested as no team had a lead larger than three points. Misericordia had match point at 24-22 but were unable to close it out as Wilson scored four straight points to take the second set.

The third set was similar to the first as the Cougars faced a big deficit early that they were unable to climb out of. Trailing 13-7, MU went on a quick 3-0 run culminating in a kill by Miller to get within three, but the Phoenix regrouped and scored five straight points to take control. Later in the set, a kill by Miller and two by Bauder got the Cougars to within three at 22-19, but were unable to get any closer as Wilson took the set and the match.

Misericordia is back in action, Wednesday when the host Cairn at 7:00.