DUDLEY, Mass. (10/18/23) – The Nichols College women's volleyball team recorded their second straight victory on Wednesday night, collecting the 3-1 (25-19, 28-26, 23-25, 25-21) match win over new conference arrival University of Hartford at the Nichols Athletic Center.

The match was considered a non-conference affair, but the Bison rise to a 13-7 (0-4 CCC) overall mark on the season following the home win. Hartford falls to 3-7 following the loss.

Junior outside hitter Luna Colozzo logged a double-double on the evening for the Bison, securing a team-best 16 kills with 10 digs to lead the offensive attack, while also hitting at .324 through all four sets. Sophomore Mairead Frost also broke into the double digits in kills, notching 10 of her own, while setters Kya Burdier and Ruby St. Onge helped keep the pace with 23 and 20 assists, respectively.

Despite a tight battle early on in the first, the Bison charged away from the Hawks midway through the second set, outscoring the opposition by a 10-2 margin that included a trio of kills each from Colozzo and Burdier. Now leading the Hawks 16-8, Hartford eventually pushed back with a 5-0 run late in the action to pull back within three at 19-16. Despite the late boost, the Bison ultimately regained their composure and finished the job in the first set, 25-19.

In the second set, Nichols erased an 11-8 deficit and transformed it into 13-11 advantage thanks to a 5-0 run, with first-year defensive specialist Cassie Durocher securing a pair of service aces. The lead would continue to flip back in forth for a few plays before Nichols again tried to pull away with a 4-0 run, which proved ineffective as the Hawks continued to apply pressure. As a result, the two teams continued to tangle up on the score board all the way up to a 26-26 deadlock, Just before Colozzo handed the Cardinals a 28-26 tiebreak victory with the final two kills.

The Bison found themselves in an early hole in the third set, as the Hawks propelled themselves to a 6-0 advantage out of the gate. Nichols would manage to narrow the difference down to one with a 5-0 run at the midway point of the set, but fail to gain the lead at any point, leading to a close 25-23 win for Hartford.

The fourth set opened with a total of four lead changes. Hartford subsequently built as much as an 18-14, only to see it vanish just as quickly with Nichols scoring four unanswered points to tie it at 18-all. With the crowd behind them, the Bison provided themselves with some late insurance, again off a 4-0 run, to hold a 23-20 advantage. Hartford would get one final point on the board, but the Bison would get the last laugh as a Kya Burdier service ace wrapped things up by a 25-21 score.  

Women's volleyball travels to Milton, Massachusetts for a CCC matchup at Curry College on Saturday, October 21^st. The matinee match will take place at Noon from the Dr. Eleanor Meyerhoff Katz Gymnasium.