DUDLEY, Mass. (9/3/24) – The Nichols College women's volleyball team won its home opener on Tuesday night, downing non-conference opponent Elms College in straight sets 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-19) at the Nichols Athletic Center.

With the win, the Bison improve to 1-1 overall on the season, while Elms drops to 0-3 overall. The win also marked the first victory for new coach Andre Foster since taking the reigns of the women's program earlier this year.

Sophomore Maille Ianniruberto had a strong performance as she registered a match-high 10 kills for a .471 hitting percentage. Junior setter Hailey Wright also stood out in the effort with 29 assists, while graduate libero Liz Diorio posted a match-best 11 digs. As a team, the Bison combined for a .278 hitting percentage, and also limited the Blazers to just -.087 on the defensive side of the ball.

The Bison opened the match by scoring four of the first five points, but then found themselves fighting off an Elms response that saw the lead flip in their favor, 11-10. To follow, Nichols bombarded the Blazers with a 14-3 run, which brought the score to set point at 24-15. A final kill from junior Mairead Frost then clinched the set for the Bison, 25-15.   

The Bison continued their offensive barrage in the second set by climbing out to an early 10-2 advantage, with five of their points originating from Blazer errors. The Blazers responded with five unanswered points to reduce the Bison lead to 11-8, but soon found themselves falling further behind as Nichols mounted a 9-2 rebuttal, increasing their advantage to 20-10. The Bison went on to win the set 25-14, capped off by a kill from graduate Haylee Granato.

The final set was a back-and-forth affair for Nichols and Elms as neither side led by more than three until late. Despite 11 ties throughout, the Bison gained the upper hand thanks to a 6-0 run behind four Blazer errors and two Cassie Durocher service aces, which put them in front 23-18. To round things out, Colozzo hammered home one final kill to bring it to match point, before an Elms attack error sealed the victory for the Bison.

Women's volleyball hits the road for three straight matchups, beginning with a stop at UMass-Boston on Saturday, September 14^th. Coverage begins at 10:00 AM inside the Clark Athletic Center Gymnasium.