NEWPORT, R.I. – The Nichols women's volleyball team fell to Salve Regina in four sets in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) clash with the Seahawks on Saturday at the Rodgers Recreation Center. All four set scores on the match finished within two points: 25-23, 23-25, 23-25, 27-25.
 
Tied at 13-apiece in the first set, a Kya Burdier swing on a Haylee Granato bump-set found the floor to give the Bison their first lead of the contest. The score remained within two points through the rest of the set, but it was a Luna Colozzo cross-court kill that sent it to set point, with an eventual Salve Regina error giving the Bison a 1-0 lead.
 
In the second set, Nichols rallied to take the lead at 23-22, but three-consecutive Seahawks points coming from a Lauren Hoyle kill and a pair from Lucy Swanson helped the hosts tie the match up, 1-1.
 
In another tightly contest set, the Bison found themselves down 20-18, but using a pair of Sydney Ball kills and an error on a Salve attack pushed the Bison up by a point. Coming out of a Nichols timeout, Ball landed a kill on the back line to tie things up, however it did not prove to be enough as two-straight Seahawks kills put the home side in position to win in the fourth.
 
Salve jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the fourth set, but once again the Bison rallied to tie things up at 7-all with a kill coming once again from Ball. Ball gave Nichols its first lead of the set at 11-10, dropping it down the outstretched arms of two Seahawk blockers onto the other side of the net. Salve regained the lead on a Lydia Daskalos kill to make it 17-16 and held the lead until set point at 24-23. Jayleen Fegan tied things up with a kill, forcing the set over 25 points. A Brighton Solheim kill after a Bison error wrapped up the set, 27-25, locking up the Seahawk's first CCC triumph of the season.
 
Colozzo and Ball each recorded a team-high 13 kills, thanks in part to Burdier's 41 assists. Liz Diorio recorded 31 of the team's 81 digs in the affair.
 
The Bison (10-4, 0-2) return to action with more CCC play on Wednesday, September 28 against Curry at the Nichols Athletic Center, with first service set for 7 p.m. In the two team's first matchup this season, Nichols swept the Colonels in a match classified as non-conference.