DUDLEY, Mass. (9/23/23) - Despite holding the early advantage in the contest, the Nichols College women's volleyball team could not hold off Suffolk University in their first Commonwealth Coast Conference bout of the season, as they suffered in a 3-2 (25-23, 25-21, 7-25, 19-25, 13-15) loss on Saturday afternoon at the Nichols Athletic Center.

The loss marks the third consecutive setback for the Bison, who drop to 9-3 (0-1 CCC) overall. Suffolk improves to 7-6 (1-0 CCC) with the victory.

Junior outside hitter Luna Colozzo led the day for the Bison, following a double-double performance off of a matching 10 kills and 10 digs, along with a pair of solo blocks. Sophomore setter Kya Burdier posted a match-best 25 assists on the night, while senior Haylee Granato collected 21 digs and nine kills.

It was a back-and-forth start to the opening set between the two teams. At one point, Nichols held an 7-3 lead but would fail to shake off the relentless Ram pressure, which eventually led to a score flip at 12-11 Suffolk. Throughout the remainder of the set, Nichols would remain one step ahead of Suffolk, despite the score returning to a tie on three more occasions. Finally, from 24-23 standoff, the Bison would secure the winning point in the first set on a final kill by Kya Burdier.

Back-to-back service aces by senior libero Liz Diorio helped the Bison to an early 4-3 advantage in the second set. However, as was the trend in the opening frame, the score continued to pinball back and forth between the two teams, with Suffolk seizing the 17-15 lead off four unanswered strikes, the largest individual run up to that point. After eventually cutting the Ram lead down to 21-20, the Bison discovered their own rhythm at the tail end of the set, finishing it off with a 5-0 run with the help of two Ram errors, and two kills from junior middle hitter Ryley Plourde.

With a 2-0 lead in hand, the third set was nothing short of a misadventure for the Bison, as Suffolk made it a 2-1 affair with a 25-7 victory in the third.

The fourth set would see the Bison regain some of their offensive prowess, but the same would be said for the Rams. The lead-swapping tendencies continued throughout the frame, with Nichols battling back from a 14-11 deficit to tie the action at 15-all, courtesy of another set of kills between Luna Colozzo and Ryley Plourde. The dagger for Nichols would come by way of a 7-0 Ram run in the late stages of the set, which provided the boost needed for Suffolk to tie the match at 2-2 by a score of 25-19.

Nichols would continue to hold their own in the fifth and final set, but Suffolk would finalize the comeback win by a 15-13 score.

The Bison will have an opportunity to bounce back as they host UMASS-Boston on Wednesday, September 27^th with first serve slated for 7:00 PM.