NEW LONDON, Conn. - The Nichols women's volleyball team battled its way back into the win column on Thursday night, advancing to 10-3 on the season with a 3-1 victory over Mitchell in non-conference play at the Yarnall Athletic Center. The Bison were victorious with set scores of 16-25, 25-22, 25-21, 27-25. 

The team's 10 wins marks the second time in program history that the team has secured double-digit victories in a single season, with a 12-12 record in 2019 as the first.

Nichols failed to sustain any substantial runs in the first set, allowing Mitchell to jump out to a 1-0 advantage.

Trailing 13-8 in the second set, Nichols battled to tie things up at 16-all thanks to the combination of Rylee Plourde and Mairead Frost teaming up for a block. A bad set on the next play gave the Bison their first lead of the game. The visitors were able to record five-straight points to bolt into a 22-18 advantage, highlighted by three Sydney Ball kills over that stretch. The Mariners battled back within one on three straight Nichols errors, but a pair of kills from Jayleen Fegan tied the match up at 1-1.

A Fegan kill on an assist from Ruby St. Onge gave Nichols a 12-5 lead in set two, but Mitchell rallied a 7-0 run to knot the game up at 12-all. The Bison regained the lead on the next play and never gave it up, narrowly hanging on at the end to take a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth.

Facing a Mariners match point in the fourth set, Nichols sandwiched kills from Haylee Granato and Ball around a Mitchell attack error to come away with a 27-25 victory. Kya Burdier handed out a match-high 13 helpers in the final game, with kills coming from five different Bison.

Fegan (.357) and Ball (.300) paced the Nichols offense with 13 and 12 kills, respectively, with Burdier providing 26 assists over four sets. Ball was credited with 20 digs in the outing, one more than reigning CCC Libero of the Week Liz Diorio. The trio of Granato, Plourde, and Frost each recorded two blocks in the victory.

The Bison will return to play this Saturday in their second conference match of the season, traveling to Newport, R.I. to take on Salve Regina at Rodgers Recreation Center at 1 p.m.