DUDLEY, Mass. (10/23/24) –  The Nichols College women's volleyball team came up short at home in Conference of New England play, losing a hard-fought battle to Western New England University, 3-1 (14-25, 18-25, 25-21, 22-25) on Wednesday night at the Nichols Athletic Center.

The Bison are now 4-17 (0-5 CNE) with the loss, while the Golden Bears improve to 17-4 (3-2 CNE).

Libero Liz Diorio had a terrific night defensively for Nichols as the graduate student delivered a season-high 30 digs. On the offensive side of the ball, classmate Haylee Granato led the night with 11 kills on .149 hitting, alongside a pair of blocks. Junior Kya Burdier recorded nine kills, while combing with senior Ruby St. Onge for 28 assists, with both players additionally tossing in one service ace apiece. Senior Luna Colozzo rounded out the list of notable performers with a stat line of seven kills and 18 digs.  

Western New England lit the fire early with a 12-3 lead to start the first set. Nichols answered back with a five-point run to make it a 12-8 score, but then a 6-1 WNE return gave the Golden Bears some more breathing room, increasing their lead to 18-9. The Bison would not be able to inch any closer the remainder of the set, with the Golden Bears winning by a 25-14 margin.

The Bison found themselves in another early predicament in the second set, but this time received a boost from several Western New England errors to shrink their deficit to just one point at 11-10. However, with the next two points falling to WNE, the Bison were forced to play from behind the rest of the way through, with the Golden Bears leading by as many as six points late. As a result, Western New England took the second set 25-18, pushing Nichols to the brink of a sweep.

The third set began with the two teams locking up at 8-8. However, Nichols' fortunes changed shortly after that in the form of a 7-1 run, highlighted by three kills and two service aces from Colozzo to make it 15-9 Nichols. Over the next 10 rallies, the two sides split the score 5-5, before a Cassie Durocher service ace brought Nichols to its largest lead of the set at 21-14.  As the Bison continued to limit the Golden Bear offense, sophomore Melina Bezati then put away the final point for Nichols off a pass from Burdier, helping Nichols to a 25-21 win in set three to stave off the sweep.

In what would be the final set, the Bison gained the upper hand early with a 6-2 lead, but found themselves tied at 6-6 just as quickly with WNE firing off four unanswered points. Not long after, the Bison attempted to gain control of the set a second time with their own four-point run to make it 12-9, but again were unsuccessful in holding their opponent of the scoreboard as the Golden Bears reclaimed the lead at 14-13. The ensuing play saw seven more ties and two lead changed between the two teams, with WNE capping off the night with a close 25-22 victory in the frame.

With just four matches remaining, the Bison enter the home stretch of the 2024 season with a road match on Saturday, October 26^th against the University of New England (15-5, 2-3 CNE), with opening serve set for a noon start at the Harold Alfond Forum.