BRISTOL, R.I. – The Nichols women's volleyball team battled to sweep Roger Williams, 3-0, in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play on Wednesday night at Paolino Recreation Center. The Bison won by set scores of 25-21, 25-21, 25-15 to advance to 13-6 (2-3 CCC) which set program records for most overall and conference wins in a single season.
Both teams traded points through the opening moments of the first set, but a three-point run from the visitors, using kills from
Melina Bezati and
Ryley Plourde put Nichols up 14-8. Still trailing by six at 16-10, the Hawks put together an eight-point swing to jump in the lead late. The Bison would continue to chip away at the deficit until a service ace by
Jayleen Fegan gave the Bison a lead at 21-20, and Nichols would not look back on their way to a 25-21 win, capped off by a Plourde's second kill.
The Bison jumped out to a 5-0 advantage in set two thanks to four errors from the home side and a
Kya Burdier service ace. The Hawks fought back once again, cutting the lead to just one at 16-15, but three-straight points from the Bison, including a
Haylee Granato kill, jolted Nichols back up by four to help secure the victory in game two.
Trailing 3-0 to start the third, Nichols strung together a 10-1 run, getting out to a comfortable lead. A Brianna Picchietti kill made it a six-point game at 21-15, but a dominating close out from the Bison, including two kills and two service aces, sealed the sweep for the Bison to earn their second conference victory of the season.
Granato paced the Bison offensive attack, as she recorded eight of the team's 37 kills while hitting at a .667 clip while contributing three blocks. Fegan recorded 10 kills in the victory and tacked on a team-best four aces.
Liz Diorio had a stellar evening in the back row, leading the squad with 14 digs. Burdier's 30 assists helped guide Nichols to a .218 hitting percentage.
Nichols will get back to work on Thursday, October 13 as they press pause on CCC play for a matchup with Elms at the Nichols Athletic Center at 7 p.m.
