The Misericordia University men's volleyball team split a tri-match with Bard at Elmira, Sunday.

The Cougars beat Bard for the second time this season, 3-1, before dropping a 3-0 decision to Elmira.

In the opener, Ryan Miller had 27 kills while Caleb Bauder added 15 kills and two aces.  Bailey Brugler had 53 assists and three blocks and Matt Lavin added eight kills and four blocks.

Against Elmira, Bauder had six kills and Brugler had 13 assists.

Trailing 10-6 in the first set against Bard, Lavin had two kills in a 4-0 run to help the Cougars pull even.

The teams traded points throughout the rest of the set with Bard eventually taking a 20-18 lead.  Brugler and Lavin sandwiched kills around a block by Miller and Lavin as MU took a 21-20 lead.

A kill by Miller gave the Cougars a 24-23 lead, but Bard answered with two kills for a 25-23 lead.

John Natiello and Trygar answered with back-to-back kills and Miller clinched a 27-25 win with an ace.

Misericordia took the largest lead of the second set at 18-15, but Bard battled back to tie, 22-22.

A block by Kaden Abreu and Brugler and a kill by Miller gave MU a 24-23 lead, but Bard closed the match with three straight points for a 26-24 win.

After Bard scored five straight points to pull even, 16-16, in the third set, the Cougars used a 4-1 spurt to take a 20-17 lead.

Following a Bard kill, Bauder answered with three consecutive kills to give MU a 23-18 lead.  Bard responded with three straight points, but the Cougars used an attack error and an ace by Bauder to clinch a 25-21 win.

MU jumped out to a 6-0 lead and never trailed while winning the fourth set, 25-18.  Miller had three kills in the opening spurt and added three more as the Cougars took a 9-3 lead.

Bard pulled within 14-11, but never got any closer.

In the nightcap, MU scored the first point, but the Soaring Eagles answered with five straight points and eventually took a 9-2 lead en route to a 25-13 win the first set.

Elmira took another early lead in the second set and the Cougars never got closer than seven points in a 25-10 loss.

In the third set, the Cougars used a 4-1 run to get within 20-15. 

Miller and Michael Trygar combined for a block and Miller followed with an ace before two Elmira errors got MU within five points. 

Elmira, however, scored five of the next six points to close a 25-16 win and the match.

The Cougars are 5-6 and will play at tri-match with York at Wilkes, Wednesday.