NEWBURGH, N.Y. – Behind 11 kills each from senior Mary Ann Raftery (Atlantic Beach, N.Y.) and freshman Kayla Kurka (Islip, N.Y.), Mount Saint Mary College defeated Bard College in straight sets (25-12, 25-17, 25-11).  The Knights improve to 20-8 on the year and complete their third consecutive 20-win season.

Raftery went for 11 kills without an error on 29 attempts, while Kurka racked up 11 kills against just two errors on 16 attempts.  Senior Lauren Halverson (Patchogue, N.Y.) totaled 30 assists and a team-best five aces.  Raftery and fellow senior Katharine Tischer (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) tied for a team-high with nine digs each.

Early in the first set, Raftery broke the Mount Saint Mary career record for kills.  The previous record of 839 was set by Nikomi Thompson in 2002.  Raftery now has 849 kills for her career.

Raftery, along with Halverson and Tischer, were honored in a pre-game ceremony celebrating their careers at the Mount.

Mount Saint Mary heads to NYU this weekend to take part in the New York State Challenge.  The Knights open a four-match slate against Nazareth College on Friday, October 26 at 3:00 p.m.