PROVIDENCE, R.I. (9/24/24) - The Nichols College women's volleyball team battled back to force a fifth set, but ultimately fell 3-2 (21-25, 22-25, 25-17, 25-19, 12-15) to Johnson & Wales University in a Tuesday night barn burner inside the Wildcat Center.

Nichols drops to 2-5 on the season with the non-conference loss, while the Wildcats improve to 6-6 (1-1 GNAC).

It was a career night for junior right-side Kya Burdier, who chalked up a new career-high 15 kills alongside nine digs, seven assists and a .387 hitting percentage. Senior Luna Colozzo also delivered with eight kills on a .316 clip, as well as 10 digs and a match-high six service aces. Sophomore Maille Ianniruberto hit .600 after going 7-for-10 at the net, while senior setter Ruby St. Onge led the night with 25 assists. Graduate libero Liz Diorio chipped in on the defensive end with 15 digs.

The Wildcats came out on top in a tightly contested opening set, winning by a score of 25-21 in a stanza that was tied seven times and had four lead changes. The turning point came by way of a 7-0 run towards the tail end of the set which gave the Wildcats a 19-12 advantage from a 12-12 tie, which proved too big a difference for a late Bison run to overcome.

The second set was a similar story, with both teams trading points up to a 17-17 tie. To follow, Johnson & Wales rattled off three straight points to take a 20-17 lead, which would provide the necessary cushion to claim the victory in the frame. Even with the Bison still on their heels, Johnson & Wales ended up taking a 2-0 match lead by a 25-22 second set score.  

Trailing 5-1 in the early stages of the third, the Bison rallied to tie the set at 5-5 before climbing in front 7-6 on a Mairead Frost service ace. Down the stretch, the Bison gained a 15-11 advantage with the help of two Colozzo aces, before later leading by as many as 23-15 thanks to a 5-0 run that featured a pair of Burdier kills. Nichols would go on to stave off a Wildcat sweep with a 25-17 victory in the third set.

Still trailing 2-1 in the match, the Bison continued to step it up in the fourth set. With the score tied at six, Nichols pulled in front 11-6 thanks to five straight points on kills from Colozzo and Burdier. From there, the Bison preserved their lead by limiting the Wildcats to no more than two points at a time, eventually putting the score out of reach with the help of two Johnson & Wales attack errors. The Bison went on to win the frame 25-19, forcing a fifth and final set. 

In the fifth, the Wildcats took an 7-1 lead at the midway point. However, the Bison put them on notice by slowly chipping away at the lead, pulling as close as one point at 11-10. However, the Wildcats would be the ones to seize the late momentum, resulting in a 15-12 fifth-set victory for the hosts.  

By night's end, the Bison hit .256 as a team, which was their second highest single-match performance this season.

On deck for women's volleyball is a home matchup against Fisher College (8-5) on Wednesday night, with the program celebrating Staff and Faculty Night beginning at 7:00 PM.